My position has no need to convince you or others. Revelation chapter 1 verses 1-8 are very clear Jesus is called the AlMighty he was the one who was pierced. HE is the one coming in the Clouds. The context of that is right there. I don't have to allegorize it, look at an Old Testament Statement that is not contextual to REV chapter 1. Jesus is the only way to God and HE is od Himself because HE knows the Father and the Father knows HIM. We Honor the Father by honoring the Son. We do not come to the Father by insulting the son of God.
I explained this in my very first post, but The Most High (which Jesus never calls himself) refers to himself as "ALL." This is one of the words that gets translated into English as "God", and sometimes "mighty". The Most High is ALL and is in all things, so His many titles reflect that... He is ALL Knowledge, ALL Truth, ALL The Heavens, ALL Mighty, All The Gods, etc.
All spirit (energy/lifeforce) ultimately comes from The Most High, not the Messiah. The Spirit is the "god" within us.... but this type of talk, was considered "blasphemy" to the Jews. The Messiah tried to point out to them in the scriptures how they were called "gods" as well (John 10:34), but just like people today, they were blinded by their religious traditions. So in their eyes, he was a heretic.
You say:
Jesus is the only way to God and HE is od Himself because HE knows the Father and the Father knows HIM. We Honor the Father by honoring the Son. We do not come to the Father by insulting the son of God.
I agree with those statements.... and any random person who didn't grow up having the church teach them otherwise, would look at those statements as two separate individuals being spoken of. They would have to have someone come along and have them put their common sense to the side to get them to believe that that was actually one being. Father
and son.... Father
and son...
Two beings..
both on
one accord, with
one goal/purpose/message for mankind.
In God's structure for the family, the father is at the top of the chain of command. A child might try to skip past the mother to get approval for something... and the father might say "go ask your mother". In some cases that may mean the father just doesn't want to deal with it, but in other cases the father may want the child to follow the proper chain of command. If the child knows the mother is in charge, its disrespectful to try to skip past her authority to try to get the answer they want from the father. Likewise, the Messiah was
given power over heaven and earth... so we we are to respect the chain of command.
Revelation chapter 1 verses 1-8 are very clear Jesus is called the AlMighty he was the one who was pierced. HE is the one coming in the Clouds. The context of that is right there. I don't have to allegorize it, look at an Old Testament Statement that is not contextual to REV chapter 1.
Let's break down those verses:
Revelation 1:1-2
1 The Revelation
of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto
him,
to shew unto
his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and
he sent and signified it by his angel unto
his servant John: 2
Who bare record of the word of
God, and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ, and of all things that
he saw.
This first verse is very important because it lets us know who is speaking, who is being spoken to, and who is being spoken about. The subject matter is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ". The one
giving the Revelation is "God" through His "angel", and it is being given to Jesus' servant John.
This verse makes it clear that God and Jesus are two separate entities, and its God (by way of His angel) that is giving the Revelation.
Revelation 1:3-6
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace,
from him which is, and which was, and which is to come;
and from the seven Spirits which are before
his throne; 5
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto
God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The actual Revelation of Jesus doesn't start until verse seven. Verses 4-6 appear to be a prayer addressed to these churches in Asia. What we do get from this though is more clear indication of separate beings (The Father, Jesus, and seven Spirits before the Father's throne). Something else important here.... The small word
"and" written before "the seven Spirits" and before "Jesus Christ" indicates that neither one of them can be the entity referred to as
"Him which is, and which was, and which is to come". This is important for verse 8....
Revelation 1:7-8
7 Behold,
he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see
him, and they also which pierced
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of
him. Even so, Amen.
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.
So now with everything in context, we can look at the two controversial verses. It is clear that verse seven is speaking about The Messiah... not only because of him being pierced, but also because verse 1 says this is a revelation of him.
However, we learned in verse one that it was The Father through His angel that was giving the Revelation... not The Messiah. This is why verse 7 is not in first person when speaking about Jesus... where as verse 8 is in first person. We also see the phrase "
which is, and which was, and which is to come", which belong to a separate being from Jesus as we saw in verses 4-5. Lastly, we have the title
"The Almighty" which refers To The Most High many places in scripture, but nowhere is it used to refer to Jesus.
When you start diving deeper into the context and language of the scriptures, more Truth begins to be revealed. You limit your ability to discover truth when all of your beliefs center around traditional church ideologies.