How do preachers or teachers explain this?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Godsgood said:
JOHN 14:12
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, the Greek word translated here as "greater," [ megas ], is translated another 150 times as simply "great." (In the kjv, anyway)

In the summary of translations, this same word is listed under "12 misc" translations. ( translated as "loud" 33x )

This may seem a small matter to some, but the "-er" is what has our attention, and for some, that little suffix can mean that pleasing God is impossible.. after all, its hard enough just to be like Him and not have to worry about doing anything "greater."

I do agree with others regarding the Spirituals (gifts). Though I am convinced that it means we have to know, to accept, and to nurture that part of Himself that He blessed us with. However, we should not think of this "giving" as an ability, but as Him personally, dwelling in us and, (if we allow Him to be), working through us to to draw others to Himself. Understandably, some may be best fitted to the noble tasks of service to one another, rather than evangelizing the unsaved.

In whatever we are given, we must not focus on whether or not we can achieve these greater things, but that we should allow Him to work in us and be able to recognize what it is that He wants to do.
 
DavidLamb said:
I already have identified Him as the God spoken of in the Bible, the Creator and sustainer of all things. What further identification are you requesting?
Click to expand...
Do you have an ID? What is written on your ID? Isn’t it your name? Then identify who the one true God is.
 
DavidLamb said:
I already have identified Him as the God spoken of in the Bible, the Creator and sustainer of all things. What further identification are you requesting?
Click to expand...
Suppose, for example, that you are an engineer, and you were the one who designed and had the Golden Gate Bridge built. Would your ID say, “The one who designed and had the Golden Gate Bridge built,” or would it have your name written on it? Is identification really that difficult to understand?
 
DavidLamb said:
But you are making an assumption there. I do know, because the Bible tells me so, that God is able to do everything that He wills to do. In Isaiah, we read these words of God:

NKJV Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'
Isa 46:11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.

So the one true God is the One of Whom we read in those verses in Isaiah 46.
Click to expand...
You are describing Him, but you are not naming Him.

Can you answer the question WHO? Who is the one true God?
 
DavidLamb said:
I already have identified Him as the God spoken of in the Bible, the Creator and sustainer of all things. What further identification are you requesting?
Click to expand...
In terms of the parts of speech, do you know the difference between a noun and an adjective?
What I am asking about is the noun, but your answer is about adjectives.
 
Godsgood said:
Do you have an ID? What is written on your ID? Isn’t it your name? Then identify who the one true God is.
Click to expand...
No, if by ID you mean an identity document. When I am required to prove who I am, I have to produce some documentation such as a birth certificate or a utility bill. But it seems from this post that you are asking me to give God's name. Which one do you want? God reveals several names in the Bible, including these:

NKJV Exo 3:13 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"
Exo 3:14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
Exo 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'

He is also known as El Shaddai, translated as "Almighty God" in English:

NKJV Gen 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Gen 17:2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

Hagar called Him El Roi, or "the God Who Sees":

NKJV Gen 16:13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are- the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?"

He is called Jehovah-Sabbaoth, or in English, the Lord of Hosts:

NKJV 2Sa 6:2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the LORD of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.

There are many more biblical names of God.
 
Godsgood said:
You say that you know the one true God, yet you cannot name Him. Are you telling the truth, or are you lying?
Click to expand...
If you had made clear in the first place that you were asking for a name, I would have replied, as I just have in my previous post) that God is given many names in the Bible. I do know them. You seem to be suggesting that He is only given one name in the Bible. That just is not so.
 
Godsgood said:
You are describing Him, but you are not naming Him.

Can you answer the question WHO? Who is the one true God?
Click to expand...
I have just provided some of His Biblical names, and another one, in the New Testament, is Abba (when referring to God the Father):

NKJV Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
 
Godsgood said:
In terms of the parts of speech, do you know the difference between a noun and an adjective?
What I am asking about is the noun, but your answer is about adjectives.
Click to expand...
You asked me to identify God. It is possible to identify somebody in other ways than by name. Somebody could identify me as "the man who lives in the bungalow halfway down Greenlands Avenue", or "the person who writes the biblical 'Thought for the Week' in our local weekly newspaper." When the police hold an identity parade, they ask a witness to point out which person they saw committing a crime. They certainly don't expect the witness to be able to give the criminal's name. Anyway, as I have now indicated, the Bible provides us with many names for God. I have given some of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back