The Nature of God and Scripture

I would like to address today the commonly held but erroneous mindset among those who profess faith in Christ, that God the Father does not have a body. Are you kidding? Everyone else in heaven, as well as everyone and every living thing in the earth, including bugs; all have bodies, and the Father of all creation does not? C'mon now, we can do better than that. Let's just settle this issue really fast from pure continuity of the scriptures, once and for all. First of all, the whole notion of it is utterly ridiculous, and here is the beginning of why it is: "And God said, Let us make man in OUR image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Who do you suppose God was talking to in this passage from the account of the creation? Some people, in defending their erroneous creeds, have said that it was angels. Really? Then why is there not ONE scripture in the entire Bible that gives any confirmation to that school of thought? That's right, not even one. I say he was talking to his Son Jesus Christ, and I DO have substantial scriptural confirmation for that school of thought: "All things were made by him [Christ]; and without him was not any thing made that was made... He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" (Jn. 1:3,10). Not enough for you? Okay, let's look at this one: "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things BY Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:9). This one works too: "In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins... For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him" (Col. 1:14,16). Let's do it once more for good measure: "[God] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, BY WHOM also he made the worlds" (Heb. 1:2). I'm certain that is sufficient to the point, so it is clear that it was indeed his Son to whom God said, "Let us make man in OUR image." I haven't yet heard of any professing believers that say that Jesus doesn't have a body, so it is evident that his Father ALSO has a body. Otherwise man is not made in "their" image, but rather in Jesus' image only; because it is obvious that WE have a body, as well as a soul and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).

Of course I'm aware of the scriptures that people use to try to prove this erroneous and perverse notion that God himself doesn't have a body. One of those is the following: "God is a Spirit..." (Jn. 4:24). What this means is that God is a spiritual being, not that he is some misty, floating vapor. The scripture also says, "Who maketh his angels spirits," and we know and acknowledge that angels have bodies (Heb. 1:7). Like God and everyone else in the heavenly realm, angels are spiritual beings who have spiritual bodies. The Bible also informs us that the people of God who are faithful till the end will also inherit spiritual bodies at the second coming of the Lord (Mat. 24:13; 1 Cor. 15:42-44; Plilip. 3:21; 1 Jn. 3:2,3). Another verse is this one: "Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). Yes, the Father is invisible to US, as the scriptures declare, but according to himself and Jesus he is quite visible in bodily form to Jesus and the host of heaven: "And he [God] said [to Moses], Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live... And I will take away mine HAND, and thou shalt see my BACK PARTS: but my FACE shall not be seen" (Exd. 33:20,23). Jesus gave us this on the matter: "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" (Jn. 5:37). Jesus also told us this: "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the FACE of my Father which is in heaven" (Mat. 18:10). Again, the point is sufficiently made, both by Jesus and by the Father as well; who are unanimous that the Father certainly has a body, even as the Son and EVERYONE ELSE has a body. Now just a short footnote here regarding the holy Ghost. The holy Ghost is the eternal life and the divine nature that INDWELLS BOTH the Father and the Son (Jn. 5:26; Rom. 8:2). The Father and the Son are both persons but the Spirit is NOT a person, nor does it have a body of its own; but again it INDWELLS both God and his Son. The holy Ghost in fact is what constitutes the true oneness between the Father and the Son (Jn. 10:30; Jn. 17:22). It is by receiving and following after the holy Ghost that we can be one with God, the Son, and one another; even as Jesus prayed for us to be (Jn. 10:10; Jn. 17:21-24; Rom. 15:6; I Cor. 1:10). It is Satan who denies that God has a body, just as it is Satan's grand design to see all of God's people fall into the deadly apostasy which is known in the scriptures as "the resurrection is past;" which doctrine disclaims both the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as well as the physical resurrection of his saints at his coming (2 Tim. 2:18; 1 Cor. 15:12-18). I assure you that we very much need to avoid that trap my friend. Amen.