Circumstances and Consequences

Seminar 216-01

June 3-6, 2009
Seminar Topic:
 
The Two Witnesses – Part I

Larry Wilson

Circumstance:    Throughout eternity past, present and future, the Godhead has had and will have two witnesses watching over their universe.

Consequences:   Thus far, God’s Two Witnesses have detected and reported two instances of rebellion. 

1.   Lucifer and his angels

2.   Adam and Eve

Ever since the second occurrence of sin took place, God’s biggest problem has been the prevention of a third episode of sin in a universe of children having the power of choice. 

Once a person understands the dimensions of the problem that God is working on, the actions and ways of God over the past 6,000 + years will make a lot of sense.

God’s love, His wisdom and strange ways make perfect sense when viewed in reverse.

This is why God requires His children to put their total faith in Him going forward.

Now you know why salvation is based on faith.

Faith is the only way that a finite being can fully trust and happily live with an all-knowing infinite God that he will never understand.

The biblical definition of faith can be summed up in three words: “Trust and Obey.”

Ask Noah, Abraham, Moses and the three Hebrews that went into the fiery furnace.

Faith in God means submission to God’s demands whether we like the consequences or not.

For example:

God says, “forgive those that hurt you.”

God says, “give Me a seventh of your time.”

God says, “Give Me a tenth of your increase.”

God says, “see no evil, speak no evil and do no evil.”

God says, “speak the truth. Do not gossip. Do not secretly diminish the character of others with rumors and lies.”

God says, “do not use His name casually.”

God says, “do not steal, kill or commit adultery.”

God says, “honor your parents.”

God says, “do not worship any other God but me.”

God says, “Make your wrongs right.”

God’s demands drive the carnal heart crazy!

Romans 8:7   The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Romans 8:8   Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Faith means willingness to do whatever God commands without regard for the consequences.

At times, circumstances can put us in a position where the consequences get very ugly.

But, the uglier things get, the brighter faith shines.

Ask Joseph –

… sold into slavery

… condemned to prison

… put on the throne

… who saved a nation and his family from famine

Faith in God is destroyed by four maybes…

Maybe God won’t care…

Maybe God won’t see…

Maybe God doesn’t understand…

Maybe God isn’t real…

When maybe enters the mind, faith leaves the heart.

Doubt is like carbon monoxide: odorless, tasteless and invisible – but deadly!

God has two “carbon monoxide detectors” in His universe.

These detectors are called “The Two Witnesses” in the book of Revelation. (They are also called by other names in the Bible.)

The introduction of the Two Witnesses in the last book in the Bible can be a bit misleading because the Two Witnesses are as old as the Godhead.

Many people think the Two Witnesses are a coming attraction, but the Bible teaches the Two Witnesses existed before anything was made!

They will never wear out and they never give a false alarm.

They are infallible.

They are eternal.

They are omnipresent.

At first, they can be a bit complicated to understand, so God has personified them in the book of Revelation so that the final generation might fully understand them and their work.

For the past thirty years I thought the Two Witnesses were the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

For reasons that will be presented in this study, I have had to change my thinking.

I have concluded that the Two Witnesses are:

(1) the two supreme laws of the universe (represented by the two lamp stands) and

(2) the Holy Spirit (the two olive trees represent the early and latter rain).

I discovered my error when I found there is an important difference between God’s two laws and God’s Word.

The Godhead has two supreme laws that are changeless and eternal:

1.   Love God with all your heart, mind and soul.

2.   Love your neighbor as yourself.

These two laws are, “The Constitution of the Universe.”

God knows that commanding His children to obey these two laws is a lot like commanding a baby to go to sleep --- easy to do, but getting the desired result is another story.

Putting this in human terms…

Little Johnny comes running in the house with a bloody nose….

Dad yells, “Now you go out there and be nice to your little sister. You hear me? “Don’t make me come out there and use a love switch on both of you.”

What does the Bible say about the law of God?

Psalms 19:7   “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Psalms 119:160   All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalms 119:165   Great peace have they who love the law, and nothing can make them stumble.

God is the embodiment of what love is and does.

Psalms 89:14   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.

Words cannot express how fortunate and blessed we are to have a Sovereign God who upholds the principles of love regardless of circumstances and consequences.

The Godhead is dedicated to upholding the rule of love throughout all eternity and they are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that the universe will be governed by these two laws throughout eternity. 

God exalts the two laws of love above His own throne and authority.

In other words, God is subject to these two laws just as we are subject to them. The Great Lawmaker is NOT above His own laws.

Psalms 89:14   “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne….”

Righteousness is lawfulness.

Sin is lawlessness.

God is NOT above these two laws.

Consider this:

What was kept in the Most Holy Place of God’s temple?

The Ten Commandments.

What was kept in the Holy Place?

Three items: The candlestick, the altar of incense and the table of the Presence (which represented the throne of God).

The point here is that the law of God (in the Most Holy Place) was given a higher and holier position in God’s temple than God’s throne (located in the Holy Place)!

Why?

God’s righteousness is defined by His faithful adherence to His two laws of love.

His system of justice is based on the administration of the two laws of love – not the exercise of arbitrary authority.

God is not righteous because Her says that He is righteous. No!

God is righteous because He can demonstrate that in all circumstances, Hw is law abiding.

His children can closely study and observe and fully test His actions against the two laws of love and every investigation will prove that His actions are in perfect compliance with the Constitution of the Universe (the two laws of love).

The really good news is that we have a God who is perfect embodiment of love sitting on the highest throne in the universe.

This awesome and all-powerful God insures that righteousness and justice will be administered throughout eternity according to the two laws of love.

This God of love is doing everything that an Almighty God of love can do given the current circumstances that Earth is in.

God’s two laws limit the powers of God in certain ways.

1.   He will not violate a person’s will.

2.   He will not force anyone to love or worship Him

Because He has infinite wisdom, He does strange things at the present time that will make perfect sense at a future time.

This is why the Bible says,

Romans 8:28   “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who had been called according to his purpose.”

Trust and Obey … for there’s no other way!

Divine love is a perfect balance between justice and mercy.

Divine wisdom knows when to extract justice and when to extend mercy.

When we look at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we see divine love at work.

When we look at Noah’s flood, we see divine love at work.

When we look at the Babylonian captivity, we see divine love at work.

When we study the Great Tribulation, we see divine love at work!!!

These things are fully consistent with the death of Jesus on the cross – another example of divine love at work.

Divine wisdom knows when to extract justice and when to extend mercy.

God exercises divine love every day with perfection and this is why the Bible says, study Him! “God is love [in action].”

Now that we examined God’s two laws – the Constitution of the Universe – consider what the Word of God really is…

Unlike God’s two laws, God’s Word is an ongoing revelation of the truth, an endless stream of divine declarations that exalt and reveal the substance of the laws of love.

Example #1

Genesis 2:16   And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

Genesis 2:17   But you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

At times, God’s Word has the force of law and this is why I thought for many years the two lamp stands represented the Old and New Testaments.

God’s Word = God’s Law

But, I was eventually forced into a theological corner because there is an important distinction between the Word of God and the two laws of love.

God’s Word actually drives His children into circumstances where the two laws of love produce difficult consequences.

Notice how this works:

God creates children and then He spends the rest of eternity educating them.

To educate and equip His children for service, God speaks. He gives different commands at various times about different things (a) to test and expand the faith of His creatures, (b) to teach us new things that are unknown and (c) to reveal areas in our lives where we need improvement.

For example, the Word of God set up a test for Adam and Eve to see if they would live in compliance with the two laws of love. 

And they failed.

Eve loved everything the snake said. Her love for Jesus, whom she well knew and with whom she had spent much time, should have stopped her from eating the fruit. 

But, a talking snake was a new adventure ….  another interesting and beautiful sight to behold!

Eve was seduced.

Genesis 3:6   When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was (1) good food and (2) pleasing to the eye, and also (3) desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it….”

It was practical, pretty and powerful  -- gulp

Adam had a different problem.

Adam loved Eve too much.

He ate the forbidden fruit fully knowing that what he was doing was wrong.

When Adam ate the fruit, He (1) violated the Word of God (which commanded him not to eat) and (2) he violated the first law of love by putting the second law of love above the higher law.

Here’s the problem for all romantics in the crowd:

Adam loved Eve as much as he loved himself. OK, that’s 100%.

She was only human being he knew.

She was beautiful and his constant soul mate.

She was family. She was everything to Adam.

She paid the bills, took care of the Garden and prepared food for him. (In fact, she went grocery shopping at the tree of life when she heard a voice in the forbidden tree calling her name.)

Eve was dependable, lovely and a perfect companion.

(I have not yet figured out what Adam did when they lived in the Garden. Maybe his job was that of naming the animals – anyway, while he was waiting for her to get lunch, he fell asleep.)

The point here is that Adam so loved Eve that he was motivated by “true and undying love” to eat the forbidden fruit so that he could share in Eve’s fate.

If she wasn’t going to live, he didn’t want to live either.

True love? Or Misplaced love?

Thus, Adam violated the first and highest law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul.”

Adam made the horrible mistake of loving Eve more than he loved God.

Yes, Adam loved Eve as he loved himself, but he put his love for family above his love for God and this was wrong.

What a romantic love story!!!

The first Romeo and Juliet!!!

Well, let’s look at this Romeo and Juliet tragedy – what is so romantic about 6,000 years of sorrow, death, abuse, sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, illness, cancer, rape, slavery, adultery, torture and dishonesty.

This world has undergone 6,000 years of pure agony and torture because Adam violated the highest and first law of love.

He put love for Eve higher than his love for God and look at the nasty consequences.

Look around, look in the hospitals and nursing homes, look at the inhumanity in Darfur, look at the grinding poverty in India and Africa, look into the jails and penitentiaries and you can see the stinking miserable outcome of Adam’s words to Eve:

“Eve, I would rather not live than to be separated from you… Oh precious Adam. You are such a sweetheart, so wonderful… Here, eat both of these… I picked them for you.”

On romantic sin is all it took.

Romans 5:12   “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, all death through sin, sin in this way death come to all men, because all [have] sinned.”

Profound:   Law #1 is always higher than Law #2.

1.   Love God first

2.   Love wife next

Legalism is a religious life where Law #2 is missing.

1.   Love for God is all that matters.

Humanism is a religious life where Law #1 is missing.

2.   Love neighbor as self.

Sooner or later, the devil manages to push every religion into abandoning one of the two laws of the universe because a one-law religion is highly destructive.

Adam was the first humanist.

Humanism is based on the idea that human beings can determine for themselves what is best for life and happiness.

Humanism dethrones the wisdom and authority of God and in its effort to avoid pain and unhappiness, it exalts human wisdom that ultimately produces the very thing it seeks to avoid: pain, unhappiness, degeneracy, decadence and death.

You would think that after six thousand years of legalism and humanism, the human race would be ready to live by God’s two rules.

If Adam had not put Eve first, Jesus would have rescued Eve by dying in her place and the offspring of Adam and Eve would not have suffered for 6,000 years.

Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake and the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on.

Question:   Do you see how the Word of God tested Adam and Eve to see whether they would live by the two laws of love?

Yes     No

Question:   Do you understand the difference between God’s Word and God’s two laws in the story of Adam’s failure?

Yes     No

God’s two laws of love are eternal and changeless principles that God Himself lives by.

Any deviation from these two laws produces sin.

This is why “all have sinned.”

The Two Laws of the Universe are not the Word of God.

God’s Word is about continuing education. God’s Word constantly pushes us into repeated collisions with the two laws of love because God never stops educating and refining His children.

If we are willing to trust and obey the Word of God (live by faith), it is only a matter of time until we collide head first with the two laws of the universe.

Isaiah 55:8   “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 55:9   “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:10   As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,  

Isaiah 55:11   so is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

God’s children will never stop growing and developing. His Word keeps everything moving forward in growth and maturity.

This growth is necessary because God will forever expand the universe.

Another new world means another planet of children, and new children means new circumstances and consequences.

The expansion of the universe and the population of the universe will never end.

Older children will mentor younger children.

Therefore, God’s Word constantly pushes older children and younger children “head first” into conflict with the two laws of the universe.

God speaks. He commands various things at various times (a) to test and expand the faith of His creatures, (b) to teach us new things that are unknown and (c) to reveal areas in our lives where we need improvement. 

This divine process will never end. It started with Adam and Eve and it will continue in the Earth made new.    

Example #2

Exodus 16:4   Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.  

Exodus 16:5   On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

You know what happened…

Exodus 16:27   Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.

Exodus 16:28   Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions?

Here, the Word of God tested the Israelites to see if they loved Him enough to obey Him.

Example #3

Exodus 35:3   Do not light a fire in any of the dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Numbers 15:32   While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

Numbers 15:33   Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly,

Numbers 15:34   and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.

Numbers 15:35   Then the Lord said to Moses, “This man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.”

Numbers 15:36   So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Why was this man stoned?

Numbers 15:30   “’But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people.” 

When a person sins defiantly against the Word of God, he willfully violates the first law of the universe, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul…”

Defiance is the opposite of submission. Defiance is willful and determined rebellion.

Consider this: God will not destroy the wicked at the end of the 1,000 years because they offended Him or disobey Him. No!!!

If the rule of law is present, a judge cannot sentence a criminal to death because the criminal defied the judge.

No, a judge sentences a criminal to death because the law requires or permits the death sentence according to the crime.

In a similar way, God will lawfully extract restitution and destroy those who willfully refused to live by the two laws that everyone, including Himself, must live by.

If anyone willfully defies these two laws, the death sentence is required.

The two laws of love demand that all defiant sinners be eliminated from the universe.

If someone refuses to love God first and his neighbor as himself, that person is defiant and all defiant people must be cut off from the society of the universe.

Numbers 15:30   “’But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people.

The two lamp stands that stand before God’s throne represent these two eternal laws which the Godhead put in place before anything was made.

There are two living olive trees that produce oil for these two lamp stands. The two olive trees enable the two lamp stands to burn as eternal flames.

Isaiah 51:4   “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations.

Isaiah 51:5   My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.

Isaiah 51:6   Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But, my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.”

The two laws that govern the universe are separate and distinct from the Word of God.

What I am about to say will be controversial. It will be simplistic. Although I believe these matters are true, I do not have the time to prove these things in this seminar.

Therefore, just listen to the following story with both ears open and that way, it can go in one ear and out the other… :--)

For many years, I have said the book of Revelation is a drama that describes a process. This process is the revealing of all that Jesus Christ really is.

However, the Father has determined that Jesus Christ must be taken out of the closet and fully exposed as to who and all that He really is.

This process of exposing Jesus is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ” and the last book is dedicated to this amazing process.

If your interpretation and understanding of the book of Revelation does NOT produce this central story – e.g., the revealing of all that Jesus Christ really is – your understanding of the book of Revelation needs to be changed!

The seven seals, the 144,000, the seven trumpets, seven bowls, four beasts and Two Witnesses produce one amazing story: The revelation of Jesus Christ for all that He is!

One more huge point, the revelation of Jesus Christ is not limited to Earth. The whole universe is learning -- all about Jesus as we are.

This story began about five billion years ago (assuming the universe is about 4.5 billion years old)….

Before anything physical existed, three separate and distinct Gods existed.

These co-eternal Gods are equals in every way. They have the same powers, authority and substance.

They also have the same characters of humility, love and generosity. 

Three lonely Gods found each other and fell in love.

These three Gods chose to permanently join themselves together in marriage for the purpose of endlessly creating a larger universe, both in physical size and population.

These three Gods united in a marriage covenant and on that special day they became ONE in purpose, plan and action.

Their first decision as newly formed Godhead was easy. They decided that each of their offspring should be created in their image, after their own likeness.

For reasons that are forthcoming. they decided to create children in their likeness so that everyone would see certain aspects of an infinite Godhead radiating from each other.

In other words, each child of God would radiate some aspects of God and that child would be recognized and admired among his peers for his particular “God-like” behavior.

(The admiration of peers is a trait that comes from the three Gods that adore and admire each other.)

Because the members of the Godhead are free moral agents, the Godhead decided that every creature being must be given liberty and freedom and the power of choice (self direction), too.

These three Gods did not want a universe of robot-like-children.

No! Every child of God must be free to grow, explore and learn, free to choose his own direction and to make choices according to his thoughts.

These three God’s wanted to have a house of endless happiness and they knew that freedom was the cornerstone of happiness and the power of choice is only useful if there is freedom.

So, they agreed that every created being would be given a wide range of freedom and within this freedom; each creature could exercise his power of choice as he thought best.

These three Gods also understood and agreed that any child could rebel against them and their house rules if that child wanted to do so.

In other words, each child would be given free will and with that comes the ability to determine attitude and behavior.

Each child was free to choose love or hate, submission or rebellion.

(Again, these are the attributes of each God, and each child has them because we were created in God’s image.)

OK, that was Job One: The Godhead agreed that children would be created in their image and given a wide range of freedoms, fully capable of exercising their power of choice for self direction.

Of course, freedom and the power of choice meant each child would be held responsible for his actions – just as each God is held responsible for His actions by the other two.

The second decision of the Godhead was also easy. There would be two house rules.

The first rule is this:

Everyone must love and adore the Godhead in the same way that the three Gods love and adore each other.

Think about this: The first rule requires all created beings to love God with all their hearts, minds and souls.

You might think this would be easy in a perfect universe, but it isn’t.

It is a big challenge for free will beings, even among sinless beings, to always put God’s will first!

Remember, at one time Lucifer and his followers had sinless natures and they lived in a sinless place, yet they eventually found it impossible to love and adore God above everything else. In fact, they came to despise God!

Also, Adam and Eve had sinless natures at one time and they lived in a sinless place, and Adam found it too much, even in a sinless state, to put love for God first.

Back to the earlier point: The Word of God always produces confrontation, a challenge – even for sinless beings that have very good brains and the freedom to exercise their power of choice.

It is a challenge for a free will and free thinking being to maintain constant submission to God’s infinite and unusual wisdom.

More about Lucifer and his failure to do this later…)

The second law of love the three Gods embraced is this:

That everyone in the universe has to love those around them as much as they love themselves.

This is the way the three God’s treat each other and their children.

Again, you might think this would be easy in a sinless state, but it is a challenge for highly creative and intelligent beings having the power of choice to constantly put the welfare of others on the same plane as themselves.

I’ll demonstrate this in a moment when we get to the angels who sided with Lucifer.

Even though these two house rules are easy to recite, these two house rules are not simple at all.

They are not shallow and they are not easy to live by – even in a sinless universe, but conformity to them is the key ingredient to eternal happiness.

As I said earlier, the Word of God is designed to test, to educate and to reveal areas of growth in His children.

In other words, God’s Word always put pressure on His children to grow, grow, and grow some more.

But, I’m tired of growing.

Most people don’t think of Heaven as going to school for eternity, but that’s what Heaven is all about – learning the love and ways of God and becoming more like God.

If you aren’t interested in endless studying and learning and doing endless homework in order to grow, Heaven is not for you.

Important point to ponder:

The two rules identify and reflect the dynamic challenge that three Gods constantly experience within their marriage.

Three independent, free will, Gods are constantly challenged to remain submitted and united in purpose, plan and action.

After all, they are equals in every way.

But, the principle of love holds them together.

Love is their unbreakable bond because they know the eternal and universal consequences of terminating these two rules.

Three Gods live by these two rules and they insist that all of their family members do the same.

These two laws are perfect and eternal.

If everyone lived in harmony with them, the universe would be one big happy house forever!

To give their free will children “a head start,” the Godhead decided to write these two laws in the hearts and minds of all creation.

They wisely did this because these two internal predispositions would help them correct choices that would prove to be mistakes.

Contrary to what you might think, angels do not have infinite wisdom. They often make decisions that prove to be mistakes.

If this were not possible, then, one third of Heaven’s sinless angels would have not joined up with Lucifer.

When it became evident in Heaven that a bad choice has been made by some angel or group of angels, the circumstance is evaluated by the two rules and the consequences are resolved and everything is quickly made right.

As I said, when these two rules are written in the hearts and minds of all creation, mistakes are easy to fix!

This loving predisposition placed within God’s children – that is, to naturally love God with all their heart, mind and soul and their neighbors as themselves – makes corrections easy and instantly forgettable.

What a happy house! No whining, no mopping around, no injured feelings or anger and no room for insults or lingering bitterness.

Love brings joy and sparkle to the eye!

Psalms 19:7   “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”

OK, setting up the two house rules was Job Two.

After agreeing that their children would be created in their own image and given the power of choice, and after agreeing on the two house rules that everyone must live by, the question of roles then came up.

Which role would each God play?

In order to function as three parents, they concluded that they had to fully submit themselves to each other and present themselves to their children as ONE God.

Deuteronomy 6:4   Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

It was not a small matter for three almighty, independent, co-eternal equals to become One.

But, they had to do so; otherwise, some smart children would soon find a crack and play two Gods against one or one God against two.

If a crack existed, children would take sides and rule one would cause division because children would favor one God more than the other two.

So:

In order to appear as One God, and since there were three of them, they decided on three supporting roles that would endure forever.

In other words, in order to have a family, no God could remain totally God.

Each God would have to give up (submit) certain rights and prerogatives to the other two Gods.

1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1

The first role to be defined was, “Head of the House.”

One God would serve as the Head of the House and He would sit on the throne of the universe. His title would be, “The Father.”

This God would be the source of authority, worship and adoration. This God would physically represent to all creation the incredible glory and exceeding powers that all three Gods actually had.

In other words, this infinite God would display the greatness and supremacy that all three Gods actually had.

By looking at the Father, God’s children could behold the power and grandeur that the other two Gods had as well.

In other words, whenever a child sees the great consuming light surrounding the throne of God, when a child beholds the enormity of the Father’s vast energy and omnipotent power, that child has only seen one-third of reality because there are two more Gods having the same powers! But, I’m getting ahead of the story…

In order for one God to sit on the throne of the universe, the other two Gods agreed to veil their glory and full identity. There must be only one Father, one “Head of the House.”

They also agreed that the God who sat on the throne would be given the highest honor as Supreme ruler of the Universe and as such, the other two Gods would submit themselves to His leadership, wisdom and direction.

Think about this: Can you imagine two infinite Gods giving up their divine prerogatives to the God who would sit on the throne?

Huge sacrifice!

Mind boggling sacrifice!

But wait! The Head of the House job has a really bad downside. The job requires eternal isolation.

No created being would ever be able to actually see the Father or enter into His consuming presence.

No one but members of the Godhead can enter into His awesome presence.

The Father’s isolation from all creation explains in part, Lucifer’s jealousy of Jesus/Michael and the rise of sin.

Jesus (who looked like an angel at the time of Lucifer’s disaffection) could enter into the Father’s presence for meetings with the Father, but Lucifer could not. This made Lucifer Jealous of Michael. Lucifer did not know at the time that Michael was a member of the Godhead.

To Lucifer, Michael looked like himself, the other covering cherub. As Lucifer saw Michael entering into the presence of the Father from time to time when Lucifer could not, well, it was insulting to his position… and you know the rest of the story.

This jealousy is what drove Lucifer to be come anti-Michael or anti-Christ.

The second position in the Godhead would be equally wonderful  -- and difficult.

It was decided that one God must forever become invisible. This God would be the only God to exercise the awesome power of omnipresence. The other two would have to give up their ability to see and be everywhere at once.

In other words, only one God would know all that is going on throughout the universe at any given time. He would be called “The Wind.” (Spirit)

Of course, the Spirit would be in constant communication with the other two Gods, but the point here is that whoever served, as the Spirit would have to disappear forever and the other two Gods would lose their ability to be everywhere at once (omnipresence).

The invisible God would live in the heart of every created being.

He would serve as a divine conduit, connecting every created being with the other two Gods – delivering the joy, peace and grace of the Godhead to every being in the universe at the same time!

As I said, this God would constantly report to the other two Gods.

Because He would be everywhere at once, He would see everything and if any child should need comfort, He would present that need to the Father for further instruction.

If the Father granted comfort, this God would instantly provide comfort, if the Father granted joy, this God would impart joy.

The Spirit is submissive to the will of the Father.

If any child should have rebellious thoughts, the Spirit would tell the Father and carry out the wishes of the Father according to circumstances.

The downside for the Spirit’s job is physical absence. The God who connects all created beings with the Father will never be seen. He will not speak on His own.

Is that submission or what?

Of course, the other two Gods can see the Spirit whenever they get together, but He will remain invisible to the rest of creation forever.

The role of the third God also has some positive and negative attributes.

This God would be the creative agent of the Godhead. He would make everything that the Father should want.

He would personally and individually create all of the Father’s children according to the Father’s spec and then, this God had to love among the Father’s children as one of them.

The idea here is that the Godhead wanted every order of creation to see how God would live if God actually walked “in their shoes.”

The title of the Creator was originally called “Michael.” He would be the archangel.

He would be the chief angel.

The name Michael means, “One who is like God.”

The really big downside in this role is that this God would have to die if the redemption of any child should become necessary.

Rule #2 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

So, if a person like Eve should become the only sinner, Rule #2 required the death of her Creator.

Jesus said, John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

In other words, if any being should sin for any other reason than defiance, and the Father wanted to redeem that being from eternal death, the Creator was the chosen God who must pay the price for sin.

So, the three roles were carefully and thoughtfully drawn up.

The positives and negatives were fully discussed and weighed.

Which role would each assume?

1.   Who would sit on the throne and live in isolation?

2.   Who would be everywhere but forever be invisible? 

3.   Who would create life and die to redeem man if necessary?

IMPORTANT:   All three Gods were qualified to fulfill any role and all three Gods were willing to submit to any role.

All three Gods agreed to serve in whatever position their lot should be.

And I conclude they cast lots to see which role they would assume.

To this day, under certain circumstances, the Bible indicates that God approves the casting of lots.

OK, here’s a HUGE point that I hope you will ponder:

When we consider the sufferings and death of Christ, don’t forget that the Father and the Holy Spirit would have done the same thing for you and me if that had been their lot.

John 14:9   Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

As I said in the beginning of this study, this explanation of three equal Gods is controversial and simplistic and I don’t have time to validate each point, but I wanted to share these matters with you because these matters highlight the origin and operation of God’s Two Witnesses: The Two Laws and the Holy Spirit.  

 

 

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