2001-4-1 10:37:00
The Fathers name is mentioned a number of times by Jesus and is an interesting subject. He said he came in his Father's name. He also said: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me [...] and I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it." (John 17:6 & 26)
Apparently Jesus used the name of the Father over and over, but there is no statement in the Bible where Jesus actually said plainly "The Father's name is..." If it ever was in there then it was taken out by the compilers of the scriptures. On the other hand we will show the name is still there and can be proven with a careful reading that the name of the Father is the same as the Son. That is the name of Christ! That may be startling, but it makes sense when we consider that the scriptures tell us that Christ created all the worlds, but also God created the heavens and the earth.
Now for the proof. First, as we mentioned, Jesus came in the name of the Father and manifested that name over and over. This indicates the name of the Father was Christ because that was the name Jesus came in and manifested.
Second, he did his works in the "Father's name." (John 10:25) He did his works in the name of Christ.
We are also told that the name of Christ is "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and EVERY NAME THAT IS NAMED, not only in this world, but also in the world to come." (Eph 1:21)
Jesus said that "My Father is GREATER than I." (John 14:28) Therefore, if the Father and the Son have separate names then the Father's name would have to be greater. But we are plainly told that the name of Christ is greater than "every name that is named" in this and the next world therefore then only way the Father could have the greatest name is if his name is also "Christ."
Obviously, the Father and the Son are not one entity as conventional Christianity seems to think or Jesus would not have said that his Father was "greater" than he was, but they are separate entities partaking of the same One Great Life which is God. They are two drops who realize they are the wave.
The Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, also bears the same name. Jesus told his apostles: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the NAME (singular) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt 28:19)
Obviously, there is one name for all the members of the God family.
Now we can make sense of the writings of Paul: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NAMED." (Eph 3:14-15)
The word cannot be much clearer than this. The whole family of God in heaven and earth is named after the Father. Jesus is, of course, part of that family so he bears the highest of all names -- the name of Christ. But the scripture goes farther than this. It says that God's family on earth also bears his name. How does the family of God on the earth bear the name of the Father? It is written" "God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people FOR HIS NAME...that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, UPON WHOM MY NAME IS CALLED." (Acts 15:14 & 17)
Here we are plainly told that the early Christian church which was formed by the Gentiles was called after the name of the Father. What was that? They were called CHRISTians or the "body of Christ."
This all makes sense. After all when a Father has a son here on the earth the Son bears the Father's name. Would not the Gods do the same?
This knowledge helps shed some light on other scriptures. Jesus said: "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he SEETH THE FATHER DO: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and SHEWETH HIM ALL THINGS THAT HIMSELF DOETH: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father RAISETH UP THE DEAD, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will...For as the Father hath life (God) in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life (God) in himself." (John 5:19-21, 26)
Jesus explains here the principle of eternal progression. That is he has a teacher whom he calls the Father and he has learned what he knows by watching him. He was speaking here before there had been any resurrection and said he had already seen the Father raise the dead. Jesus received his power over death by watching the Father and obtaining from him the keys of eternal life within.
When did Jesus watch the Father overcome death? It was on another world whereon his Father was a savior and Jesus was one of his disciples. That is why the Father also has the name of Christ and his people must bear his name. The things that Jesus did we must eventually do. All of us need a teacher to show us the possibilities of man.
Now we can see that the previously quoted statement of Joseph Smith seems to make sense: "Jesus is one of a grand order of Saviors. Every world has its distinctive Savior and every dispensation its Christ."
In reality everyone who manifests the Spirit of Christ is both a Father and a Son for progression is eternal and when we are learning we are Sons. When we are teaching we are Fathers. Jesus was a Son in relation to his Father, but a Father in relation to his disciples. On the other hand the Father, or teacher of Jesus will also have one above him who is his Father. Thus the Father-Son-Father-Son relationship stretches from men and women who manifest Christ clear up to the One Great Life whose physical body is the universe. "For he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these." (Eccl 5:8) Thus the life of the One Universal God can touch the lowest lives in creation. In this way Christ is the creator and savior of the universe, but the One Life is composed of trillions of individual entities like you and me.
The scripture says that the family of God both in heaven and on earth is named after the Father. This means that there is a God family on earth bearing the name of Christ. This has an outward symbol with the name Christian or body of Christ, but the meaning goes deeper than this. We are told that the redeemed have the "Father's name written IN their foreheads." (Rev 14:1)
What does it mean to have the name of Christ, or God in your forehead? It means that we accept the fact that Christ is in us and that we are one with him, and if we are one with him we are Gods as he is. No wonder Jesus stated "Ye are Gods" and Paul told us to have the mind of Christ within us.
The importance of not denying the name of God is stressed [See Rev 3:8.]. Indeed! It is a denial of the name of God to deny the statement of Jesus: "Ye are Gods." We must accept the fact that we are "filled with the FULLNESS OF GOD" (Eph 3:19) or we deny the God in us and the kingdom within which is the only place it will ever be found.
Another interesting name for God is Jehovah. This name is derived from HAYAH which is the statement given to Moses when he asked for the name of God. In the King James Version [of the Bible] the reply reads:
"And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus salt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14)
This sounds confusing to many but a more literal translation sheds additional light: "And God said to Moses I AM BECOMING WHAT I AM BECOMING...." Or, as written in my book "The Immortal: "I AM BECOMING THAT WHICH I DECIDE TO BECOME."
This may still sound a little confusing, but Moses understood the answer perfectly. Names in ancient times were viewed differently than they are today. In our day if I introduce myself as Joe or Joseph that is all it means, just a sound to be known by. However, names in the days of Moses told people about themselves. For instance, Joseph then meant "he will be added upon," David was "Beloved" and Abraham: "Father of a multitude." In those days when you knew someone's name you supposedly knew something about the person and his destiny. Therefore, the most natural question a person in ancient days would want to ask God would be his name. His name would tell us how he is different from everyone else and what is his destiny. Could the great Unknowable have a name? Moses wondered. Would God give him a name that would describe the kind of character he is and end the great mystery once and for all?
Moses, I am sure, was surprised with the answer. Instead of getting something like, "My name is Zilgooser which means the Great One Who Sits in the Heavens" or something like that, he received a simple and direct: "I AM BECOMING WHAT I AM BECOMING... Go tell the children of Israel that the One who sent you IS BECOMING."
If Moses had not heard this from God himself he would have never believed it. God is still in the process of BECOMING or evolving. That means that God himself has not reached the ultimate. There is still something around the corner for Him to become. There are new worlds to conquer, even for God. He is becoming whatever the hell he wants to become and is certainly not in the box where believers want to place him.
Moses never did present this name he was given to Israel, probably for fear that he would be laughed out of Egypt. Surely God knows who he is. Instead, Moses introduced it in a more palpable altered form as JEHOVAH (or YAHWEH) which is usually interpreted to mean "The Eternal."
Nevertheless, the first name given to Israel is the more glorious and reflecting upon it brings great enlightenment. The whole universe is in a state of change and "BECOMING" and God is the One Great Life that embodies the universe. Every life in the universe shares its life with God including man who is becoming, and, in reality, no name will fit any of us for eternity for what we will be tomorrow is different than what we are today and since we are one with God that means that God, also, will be different tomorrow.
For instance in the Old Testament He was called Jehovah, in the New Testament he was known as Christ, the anointed, and in the future a new name will be announced: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: AND I WILL WRITE UPON HIM MY NEW NAME." (Rev 3:12)
Is the new name "I AM BECOMING"?
You never know.
Now we see why God says, "Behold, I make ALL THINGS NEW." (Rev 21:5) The perfection that is attributed to God by man is not taught in the Bible as we shall show a little later. Because it is never achieved God keeps making everything "new." He creates a "new" Jerusalem, "new" kingdoms, a "new" heart in man, a "new" heavens and earth, a "new" song, he gives us "new" names and will even give himself one. When the One Great Life changes, then things become new.
Can you think of anything worse than reaching a static condition where there was no change and nothing new to look forward to? That is the main criticism I have heard of the Christian heaven. Many people naturally say: "I do not want to go to heaven where there is perfection and no new goals to set for ourselves." The truth is that would not be heaven but hell. It would not be life, but death. Even among the people in the churches with this belief one can see the seeds of death. The people are lifeless and lead boring lives. Many having fun in the bars are closer to becoming what they will become and therefore closer to God. This makes us reflect on the words of Jesus to the pious people of his day:
"The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." (Matt 21:31)
Questions:
Many New Agers as well as religious ones teach of a heaven (or void) of changelessness, where the ultimate is reached.
Would you even want to go to such a place? Why or why not?
How do you go about taking upon yourself the name of Christ?
-- End Of Part Five --
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Copyright 2001 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved