Idea said:Yes, Jesus fulfills many different roles - the most important of which is being the Savior of the world and the Son of God.
Yes indeed, but not the savior of all by any means. Only those who come to him in truth, "doing the will of the Father" will be acceptable to him. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Idea said:Many accounts are given (and I quoted a few of them earlier) of people conversing, and seeing the physical God - seeing his finger, his feet, etc.
Jesus said the opposite. At John 5:37 we read..."And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen" also at John 1:18 it says, "No one has ever seen God" so how can you say that humans can see God? Angelic representatives often spoke in the first person conveying God's words to his earthly servants, but "no man can see [God] and yet live" is what God told Moses. (Exodus 33:20) God is not a physical being because he dwells in an immaterial realm.
John also tells us that "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Neither God nor his son are material beings.
Idea said:You believe that people are moral? The natural man is an enemy of God -
Fallen man is the imperfect reflection of God. We fall short because of sin...but Adam and his wife were created perfect, without defect. It was the misuse of their free will that was their undoing.
We have a moral capacity, which we do not see in the animal kingdom. This moral capacity is also seen in the angels, who also possess free will. Just because we have a moral capacity, doesn't mean that we will abide by it. We can choose to go against it but consequences will result. That is why we have laws with penalties. If we had no capacity to make wrong choices, then why would there be penalties in the first place? Life was meant to last forever and all Adam and his wife had to do was obey one simple command and they would never have seen death. They were talked into disobedience by someone who had already gone down that track....and the consequences were experienced, just as God had stated. (Genesis 2:17; 3:22-24)we do not have God's perfect character or morals, we do have His physical image - hands/feet etc.
Idea said:Jesus' human body was not disposed of - "spirit hath not flesh as ye see me have", his perfect body was one of the glories of his resurrection.
In fulfillment of prophesy, Christ's body was sacrificed, given on mankind's behalf...he didn't take it back...why would he? He was "raised in the spirit", not the flesh.
He materialized a human body just as other spirit beings had done in the past to demonstrate the fact that he was alive. These materialized spirits ate and drank like any other mortal, but they 'disappeared' when their job was done. So did Jesus.
Jews were forbidden to commune with spirits, because of what happened in Noah's day. Demons could no longer materialize but they could still communicate with humans through spiritism. So angels and Jesus materializing to communicate with God's earthly servants kept the Jews obedient to God's laws. (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)
God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ are not some imaginary, non-material / non-tangible entities. They are real, physical beings that you can talk with, walk with etc.
Sorry, but that is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus was a real tangible being because his role as Messiah and redeemer made that necessary. He had to come to earth as a mortal human to ransom the human race. But after his resurrection he was no longer human. The apostle Peter said that Jesus was "put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit". (1 Pet 3:18) How does a body of flesh go to heaven?
Idea said:Love is a feeling. The most important things to rely on are feelings... Are you afraid of your feelings?
Not at all, but I subscribe to the view that "feelings are wonderful friends, but terrible masters".
Love is not just a feeling at all. The Greeks had four words that can be translated "love" but they mean so much more than our inadequate word.
True love is based on so much more than mere transient feelings that can change overnight.
Real love is "agape", which is a love based on principle, not feelings. This love is stronger than feelings because we can even love an enemy with this love.
"Eros" (romantic love) is based on feelings. But this Greek work is not found once in the NT.
"Storge'" is the love family members have for each other...the blood ties that are "thicker than water".
"Philea" is brotherly love...the kind we feel for our brothers in the faith. The kind Jesus felt for his apostles.
The Bible's counsel is so much deeper when we explore the original meanings of words.
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