What is the right hand of the invisible God?
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God is invisible and has no shape. He lived inside Jesus, the Son of God, so that we can see what God would be like.
- All of God in Jesus enables Him to do the impossible
- The Man Jesus is the Son of God Who makes God visible
- The right hand represents the power of God
- Jesus cannot sit or stand beside God
- Pagans saw God as a trinity
- 2 men will sit on either side of Jesus in Heaven
All of God in Jesus enables Him to do the impossible
Einstein described light in two very different ways. At times he said it behaved like waves. Then at other times, in an apparent contradiction, his other description of light was that it behaved like a stream of particles. Yet that was part of his genius.
He willingly accepted the strange nature of light, and chose whichever attribute best addressed the problem he was trying to solve.
Today all physicists accept this so-called "dual" nature of light. Light can behave as a wave or as a particle.
Sometimes scientists see light as a wave, just like ripples on the surface of water that move in all directions.
Sometimes they see light as a stream of particles, like bullets, that just move in one direction.
It is impossible for us to really understand how the same light can behave in two such contradictory ways. But it does.
What is the best way to understand how light can display such impossible behaviour? When you think of light as a wave, do not think of it as a particle at that time. Then when you think of light as a particle, do not simultaneously think of it as a wave as well.
JOHN 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world:
If Jesus is our spiritual light then He must also display behaviour that we regard as impossible.
At times He behaves like a Man. At other times He behaves like God.
But God is a Spirit, God is not flesh and bone.
JOHN 4:24 God is a Spirit:
So a Man, made of flesh and bone, cannot be God.
JOHN 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Yet Thomas called Him God.
So how does this seemingly impossible and confusing combination of Man and God happen?
Jesus walked on water on the sea of Galilee which is impossible for a man to do.
Job speaks of God saying :
JOB 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens,
and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
God alone can walk on water.
So Jesus, despite being a Man, must also be God.
You say that is impossible. I sympathize with you.
But it also seems impossible for light to be a particle heading in one direction, as well as being able to behave like a wave that ripples out in all directions. But light does do that. Light is a mystery.
So is God.
I TIMOTHY 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh,
Then Jesus moved easily up towards Heaven through the air on the day of ascension. A man cannot do this.
II SAMUEL 22:11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:
and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
God moves easily through thin air.
Once again, this incredible Man Jesus was behaving just like God.
Then Jesus raised Lazarus from his tomb. Only God can give life to the dead. Man cannot do that.
Once again Jesus has behaved just like God.
Then He took five small loaves and two fish which was a reasonable lunch for a young boy.
Then something miraculous happened. In His hands, this food multiplied and filled and re-filled the baskets that his disciples carried, so that the disciples were able to feed 5000 men as well as an unknown number of women and children.
Being able to create cooked food in abundance is impossible for a man. Once again the Man Jesus had behaved just like God.
Natural light, we have discovered, is both wave and particle - which indicates a mysterious merging of two opposites.
So Jesus, the Light of the world, is a mysterious merging of both Man and God.
The Man Jesus is the Son of God Who makes God visible
I TIMOTHY 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh,
What does this mean?
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
God is a Spirit. And all of this Spirit dwelled inside the physical body of the Man Jesus.
JOHN 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:
The Father is the indwelling supernatural Spirit.
The Son is the human Man that God dwelled in.
For any human being, the spirit inside the person controls the actions and thoughts of that person’s body.
How can Jesus be equal to His Father, and yet say that His Father is greater than Him?
PHILIPPIANS 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
JOHN 14:28 ... : for my Father is greater than I.
As an approximate analogy, your spirit and your body are equal because both of them are you.
Yet your spirit, which forms your mind, is the boss that is in control of your body.
You can also think of your very powerful subconscious mind that keeps your whole body functioning, even when asleep, as the "father" and your far less powerful conscious mind as the "son".
The Bible speaks of God the Father because God is a Spirit.
The Bible never says “God the Son”.
The Son is the Man of flesh and bone that God dwells in.
But God is not flesh and bone. Thus the Son cannot be God.
So the Bible says “the Son of God”.
Try a new viewpoint. The invisible spirit within you is the “father”, and your visible body is the “son” that obeys the invisible, indwelling spirit. After all, your spirit controls your body and motivates it to do what you do.
Now we have a huge problem when we discuss God : God is invisible and cannot be seen.
JOHN 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
We will never see God because He is a Spirit, and our human eyes and all of our scientific instruments cannot see a spirit. You cannot see the spirit of life that is in you.
JOHN 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time,
nor seen his shape.
God is a Spirit, and has no shape that we could recognize.
Thus God, as an invisible Spirit, cannot have a right hand.
Remember, God was manifest in the flesh. God (the Father) was the invisible supernatural Spirit that lived inside the human Man Jesus, Who is called the Son of God. The behaviour of the Man revealed the nature of the indwelling Spirit in Him.
The human Man, on the outside, was under the supernatural control of the indwelling Spirit.
This was the perfect role model for all of us.
God wants us to be born again whereby He places a portion of His Holy Spirit within us, and then wants our entire body and mind to be brought into submission to the will of this indwelling Spirit.
ACTS 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
I CORINTHIANS 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
The miracle of the Spirit of God is that It can pour down from Heaven like rain, and then portions of the Spirit can enter into the hearts of the believers.
JEREMIAH 23:24 Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
God’s invisible Spirit is in the Body of His Son, and yet it fills the Universe, and can also be found inside His saints. How is this possible?
Think of television sets.
This man is announcing some news in the broadcasting studio of the television network.
His image projects out from the studio in all directions. The television waves are invisible (just like God’s Spirit) and go through the walls of houses and fill all the rooms and all the open spaces in between.
Nothing can detect these waves - unless there is a special receiver, called a television set.
Then an image of the announcer appears on every functioning TV set.
It looks like there are five persons present. But there is only one person, the announcer that you can contact by shaking his hand. You cannot make contact with the other four images on the screens. You can only touch the glass of the TV screens, not the person's image.
Similarly, God projects His Spirit to “whosoever will”, but this Holy Spirit can only be detected by a believer who has a repentant heart. God’s blood cleanses our hearts so that we have a clean “screen” to manifest or show the Spirit of God that is within us.
Yes, I said God’s blood.
Paul, speaking to the elders of Ephesus, said
ACTS 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
More and more we are discovering that this incredible Person called Jesus is an amazing combination of both man and God.
Scientists wish that light was either just a wave, or just a particle. But it is both.
GALATIANS 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me:
ROMANS 8:10 And if Christ be in you
the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness.
The Holy Spirit is Christ Who dwells within us.
There is one Lord. Jesus is that Lord. And that Lord is the Spirit.
PHILIPPIANS 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
II CORINTHIANS 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit:
EPHESIANS 4:5 One Lord
The right hand represents the power of God
We cannot see God as He is an invisible Spirit that has no shape.
We can only see the Body or Person that God dwells in.
Let us consider what is meant by the “right hand of God”.
This has to be symbolic since God the Father has no shape, and thus cannot have a hand.
At the Red Sea, when the Egyptians were drowned, Moses sang :
EXODUS 15:6 Thy right hand,
O LORD, is become glorious in power: O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
God’s power was symbolized as a strong fist that had dealt the enemy a knockout blow.
God was invisible at this scene. But His awesome power was visible in the terrible destruction of the drowning enemy.
If we were to try to make an analogy of this, we could compare it to a devastating right hand punch of a boxer that knocks out his opponent.
A man’s right hand is a very effective symbol of unleashed power.
MATTHEW 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Here Jesus clearly indicates that the right hand is a symbol of power.
LUKE 22:69 Hereafter shall the
Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
The power that Jesus will manifest is not the power of a human, like a knockout punch, but rather the supernatural power of God, similar to what Moses saw on the banks of the Red Sea.
HEBREWS 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The supernatural Spirit of God lived in the human Man Jesus. The actions of the Man called Jesus expressly manifested or displayed the character of the invisible God Who lived inside His Body.
Jesus was the Servant, the Worker, the Sacrifice, Who came to atone for our sins.
An essential worker in a company is called the “right-hand man” of the boss.
A man’s right hand is what enables him to do his work and display his skills.
HEBREWS 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
Putting our weak hands into the right hand of God is a lovely analogy to describe how the power of God, if we stay with His Word, is able to bring us through the trials and temptations of this world.
HEBREWS 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
Calvary was real power. This is where sin and Satan were given a knock out blow.
ISAIAH 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
The nails in His hands engraved our names into the palms of His hands.
HEBREWS 1:3 ...sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Jesus sat down on the “right hand” or the “power” of the Majesty in Heaven. There is no greater glory.
Majesty refers to a king. And Jesus is the King of kings.
REVELATION 19: 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
So Jesus has all the power as King of Heaven and Earth.
MATTHEW 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
REVELATION 1: 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
He is Almighty God. He has all power. Our names are embedded into His hands.
Thus our future is secure. His right hand symbolizes His supreme power. The only strength that we have in our own hands is when we hold them up in prayer.
I THESSALONIANS 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Jesus cannot sit or stand beside God
Many Christians think that Stephen saw a Godhead of two People in Heaven when he died.
ACTS 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
: 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
This picture indicates two Persons, so it is no proof of the Trinity - which claims that there are three People in the Godhead. This picture is used by Jehovah Witnesses, and others, who believe that the Godhead consists of two People.
This Scripture seems to show two People. There is no Scripture that shows three People. So the Jehovah Witnesses score points on this Scripture compared to the Trinitarians.
But, having two People in the Godhead contradicts certain Scriptures.
JOHN 4: 24 God is a Spirit:
A Spirit is singular. One Spirit, not three Spirits.
In addition, a Spirit is invisible.
JOHN 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time;
JOHN 5:37 And the Father himself,
which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
So the picture I have drawn of God the Father sitting on a throne is wrong because God has no shape.
ISAIAH 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD;
and beside me there is no saviour.
You can never see the Saviour, Jesus, standing beside God. This is very unscriptural.
So what did Stephen see?
ACTS 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Stephen saw the glory of God.
This was something that shone brightly.
MATTHEW 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Here Jesus clearly indicates that the right hand is a symbol of power.
LUKE 22:69 Hereafter shall the
Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
The right hand of the invisible and shapeless God (Who being a Spirit has no right hand) is simply a symbol of His supernatural power. Stephen was dying a cruel death. He was the first Christian martyr. So Jesus gave him a vision of Himself in Heaven, which indicated that Jesus had full power over life and death, good and evil. Although it seemed that all had gone wrong for Stephen, this vision showed him that Jesus had full control over these events. Stephen’s soul would go to Heaven, and he would rise up 2000 years later in the first resurrection.
This vision of power was to encourage Stephen to know that Jesus has the power to raise the dead. So even if Stephen died, Jesus would still raise him up at the time of the resurrection.
ACTS 7: 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Jesus was standing in Heaven on the full supernatural power of God
which gives Him power over death, hell, and the grave.
Stephen seemed doomed, but he was actually completely safe.
There is no power of Satan that is greater than the “right hand” power of God.
ACTS 7:55 ...and saw the glory of God,
Where can this glory of God be seen ?
II CORINTHIANS 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
There is a shining light of glory that shines out of the face of Jesus Christ.
This supernatural glory comes from the presence of the supernatural God Who dwells within Him.
Thus Jesus Christ is the face of God. The express image of the invisible God.
Speaking of Jesus, Paul says :
HEBREWS 1: 3 Who being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person,
God made a law that no man could make an image of God, because they would get it wrong.
LEVITICUS 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image
God alone could make a human image of Himself. This was the Man Jesus. Then God would dwell within that image.
Pagans saw God as a trinity
The following are some of the failed attempts by man to carve or paint a picture of God. Pagans and Christians, tend to favour a triune Godhead.
This trinity godhead with three names came from Eqypt.
The throne represents their godhead. Three persons making up god.
This trinity came from the far East. Three heads on one body. Three-in-one.
This image of a three-in-one trinity (three heads in one body) comes from the Hindus in India.
The next Trinity come from a Roman Catholic church artist.
Notice God the Father wearing the triple crown of the Pope. But in 1963 the new Pope, Paul VI, took off the triple crown after his coronation and it has never been worn since. So this picture of God is now out of date.
The next Trinity is a Protestant version. It shows the Holy Spirit as a dove not a person. This type of thinking has led to the Jehovah Witnesses, and others, claiming that there are only two People in the Godhead. God the Father and the Son who is a lesser god. After all, a dove is not a person.
Human imagination knows no limits. Once human beings began to carve or paint their idea of God, all these and many other variations were developed by clever people.
All these statues and pictures wrongly represent God because He is invisible and has no shape.
But the supernatural God made a human man, Jesus Christ, so that the fulness of God could live within this Man. Jesus revealed to us what God would be like if God was a Man.
JOHN 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, 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?
So Jesus Christ is the only accurate visible image of what God looks like.
Picture Jesus in your mind. This is the closest you will ever get in terms of knowing what God looks like.
I JOHN 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Jesus Christ is the true God in human form. He is our Kinsman Redeemer. He is God, and yet He is also a Man.
Because He is a Man, He understands us, humans. He has shared our life on this earth.
As a fellow human Being, He loves us. Just as we love other humans, despite their faults.
2 men will sit on either side of Jesus in Heaven
A final thought.
The mother of James and John asked this favour:
MATTHEW 20: 21 ...Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Jesus never said that this was impossible.
MATTHEW 20: 23 ....but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
So there will be some man on His left and some man on his right-hand side in the kingdom.
Thus this following picture of the Godhead, showing Jesus and God the Father, is impossible :
Jesus cannot be on the right hand of God the Father as a separate Person.
Then God the Father would occupy the position on the left hand of Jesus.
Thus the future picture in the kingdom would look like this :
There would only be a position for a person on His right-hand side.
But Jesus said the places on His left and right-hand side had not yet been allocated.
So God the Father dwells as the invisible Spirit inside the human Body of Jesus, and two Bible heroes will sit on both His left and His right hand.
Jesus gets His power from the God who is within Him. The "right hand" of the invisible Spirit is this power.
But Jesus, as a Man, has two literal hands. Two men can thus sit on either side of Him.
Our real spiritual power only comes from the Spirit of God which is within us.