9 But just as it is written: Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, neither have there been conceived in the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2).
We owe thanks to God and to Jesus and to the holy spirit and to a certain International Bible Student for this one. It all started like this:
27 Next he said to Thomas: Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my side, and stop being unbelieving but become believing.
28 In answer Thomas said to him: My Lord and my God! (John 20).
Lets us clear our minds of any preconceptions and open our hearts to the love of God and be certain that he knows more than we presently do and that he will instruct us through his word. OK? Are we sitting comfortably? Right then...
Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for calling him his God. Jesus' response was:
29 Jesus said to him: Because you have seen me have you believed?
Happy are those who do not see and yet believe (John 20)
So Jesus did not deny and therefore by omission confirmed that he was God to Thomas after he died. Whereas before he died things were different...
17 And as he was going out on his way, a certain man ran up and fell upon his knees before him and put the question to him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?
18 Jesus said to him: Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, except one, God (Mark 10).
So Jesus has progressed from not accepting being called 'good' before his sacrifice to accepting being called 'God' after his sacrifice. Quite a progression!
Then Paul tells us:
5 Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who subsisting in the form of God thought [it] not robbery to be equal with God, (Philippians 2 GLT)
6 Who in form of God existing not snatching/robbery he considered the to be equal (things) to God [Greek idiom, to be equals in status with God], (Philippians 2 KIT)
7 No, but he emptied himself and took a slave's form and came to be in the likeness of men.
8 More than that, when he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake.
9 For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every [other] name,
10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground (Philippians 2 - NWT).
A God is someone who has knee bending worshippers just as a king has subjects. Jesus thought it not to be robbery to become equal to God by taking his divine status for himself. And he achieved that goal. And we should have that mental attitude within us. In other words: We should all be trying to become Gods. The true sons of a God. It is not robbery to aspire to be what your father is. So long as you achieve that goal legitimately.
Whereas Paul also says of Jehovah:
11 For it is written: As I live, says Jehovah, to me every knee will bend down, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God (Romans 14).
So Jesus is getting the knee bending and vocal acknowledgement that Jehovah is getting. But we read in Revelation that John fell down at the feet of the angel (not the angel Michael) who was showing him the vision twice:
10 At that I fell down before his feet to worship him. But he tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who have the work of witnessing to Jesus. Worship God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires prophesying (Revelation 19).
9 And there came one of the 7 angels who had the 7 bowls which were full of the 7 last plagues, and he spoke with me and said: Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 So he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21).
7 And, look! I am coming quickly. Happy is anyone observing the words of the prophecy of this scroll. (Says Jesus)
8 Well, I John was the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that had been showing me these things.
9 But he tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who are prophets and of those who are observing the words of this scroll. Worship God (Revelation 22 - says the angel of Revelation 21:9,10).
Now making an acknowledgement on one's knees is not necessarily worship, but the point is that the holy spirit stepped in to prevent further idolatry in the case of John, so why did Jesus not rebuke Thomas?
The answer is that Jesus was elevated in status from an angel to a God requiring worship, after he died and was given the name above every other name named.
9 For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every [other] name (Philippians 2).
20 with which he has operated in the case of the Christ when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come (Ephesians 1).
5 For example, to which one of the angels did he ever say:
You are my son; I, today, I have become your father? And again: I myself shall become his father, and he himself will become my son?
6 But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth,
he says: And let all God's angels do obeisance to/worship him.
7 Also, with reference to the angels he says: And he makes his angels spirits, and his public servants a flame of fire.
8 But with reference to the Son: God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of
uprightness.
9 You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with [the] oil of exultation more than your partners (Hebrews 1).
4 but who with power was declared God's Son according to the spirit of holiness by means of resurrection from the dead yes, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans1).
So God became Jesus' father in a new way when he was resurrected, in a way that no other angel had experienced, in a way that meant all God's angels should do obeisance to him or worship him. So he became a God to be worshipped, like his father Jehovah. He became his true divine son, a second true God. At the time Paul wrote his letters, in fact at the time of his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was a Mighty God, a God requiring worship like Jehovah, but he was not Almighty God, who is Jehovah himself...
6 For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9).
Jesus earned this increased status together with the rights of the firstborn angelic son of God, when he gave his life for us and to prove God's messianic prophecies correct. Hence Paul says...
14 See therefore that we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens [like a child passes through a school, to rise above them and become a God to be worshipped], Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold on to our confessing [of him] (Hebrews 4).
18 But will God truly dwell with mankind upon the earth? Look! Heaven, yes, the heaven of the heavens themselves, cannot contain you; how much less, then, this house that I have built? (2 Chronicles 6 NWT)
So the dwelling place of God is outside of the heavens. But Jesus passed through the heavens and therefore ended up in the dwelling place of God.
Finally here is the Binary question to end all binary questions...
32 For who is a God besides Jehovah, And who is a rock besides our God? (2 Samuel).
Well. It is Jesus ! See the Binary Question Principle of the Code
Now here is the wisdom of God, given to a certain 16 year old sister, in 2003, who got this huge understanding. Because really what is the name that is above every other name? Not 'a' name, but 'the' name. Well it is 'Jehovah'. So Jesus was baptised into God’s name when he died - see I32. He finally took on the family name. That makes him a God, a God to be worshipped. The Holy Spirit was the priest for this baptism (because she wears God's name, being his wife, but no individual angel did at that time). It is the greatest of all of our understandings and it came from the youngest of all the LWs and a sister. That is our God for you. But this sister turned apostate and left, that is Satan for you. Mind you she has since returned - thanks to the love of God, her father. And the she left again. But she will once more return.
25 At that time Jesus said in response: I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes (Matthew 11).
Do not think that God is unaware of the modern usage of the term 'babe'!
Jesus is God, a mighty God, a God to be worshipped, like Jehovah. But he is not almighty God. He has been elevated though still a creation to a true God, the only begotten God of John 1:18.
18 No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten God who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him. (John 1 NWT)
He has also given up his angelic body for ransoming purposes and is now resident in a divine body like God's body, presumably somewhat different from an angelic body. This is a big understanding and we are not going any further with it here. We have enough to get through to you as it is. But we do come from a family of Gods, and our destiny is to be Gods, yes, Gods like Jehovah. That is when we become his true sons.
11
Also, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, watch over them on account of your own name which you have given me, in order that they may be one just as we are.
12 When I was with them I used to watch over them on account of your own name which you have given me; and I have kept them, and not one of them is destroyed except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled (John 17).
This shows that Jesus took Jehovah's name at the last supper, presumably through his drinking of the cup of the ARC - see U15 on the research site. He also left the world when he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and went into the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights (which means the centre of the organisation of God - see U251). This is why Jesus said: I am no longer in the world. His ministry to Israel had ended.
40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish 3 days and 3 nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth 3 days and 3 nights (Matthew 12).
There is a simple slam dunk proof that Jesus is now a God in Revelation 20...
6 Happy and holy is anyone having part in the resurrection, the first, over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ [who therefore must be a God], and will reign with him for the 1,000 years.
If you have a priest to you, then you are a God. So Christ is a God.
There are some old testament scriptures which if not translated carefully appear at first sight to contradict the above...
39 See now that I--I am he
And there are no gods with me [ydm[] [standing with me, standing up to me, of equal status to me, of my stature].
I put to death, and I make alive.
I have severely wounded, and I--I will heal,
And there is no one snatching out of my hand (Deuteronomy 32).
45 I am Jehovah and there is no other, apart from me [without me, with me removed] there is no God (Isaiah 45).
These things were true when spoken before Jesus died. But after his death the only begotten God joined Jehovah in the Pantheon. So then a new answer was given to the binary question asked in 2Samuel22...
31 As for the [true] God, perfect is his way; The saying of Jehovah is a refined one. A shield he is to all those taking refuge in him.
32 For who is a God besides Jehovah, And who is a rock besides our God? (2 Samuel 22 NWT) [That is a binary question. The Binary Question Principle of the code requires there to be a second God]
In a tragic and blasphemous reversal the church he founded, the Watchtower, rejected this divine understanding of their cornerstone. Russell said in Studies in the Scripture Part2, the time is at hand, p155...
"It is the same Jesus who has experienced 2 changes of nature, from spirit to human, and from human to divine." (C.T.
Russell)
We know from the Gospel of Philip that Jesus entered into the body of God to be born as a God. Quoting from this Gnostic text...
The chrism [the sealing, the righteous decree, the passing of a baptism test, a particular type of anointing] is superior to baptism [which is the entrance into a baptism test], for it is from the word "Chrism" that we have been called "Christians," certainly not because of the word "baptism" [Well that nails the baptist church then!]. And it is because of the chrism [the passing of the test of Jesus baptism as far as death on the stake] that "the Christ" has his name [which name is Jehovah]. For the Father anointed [chose] the Son [God anointed Jesus and Jesus anointed Paul], and the Son [Jesus of God and Paul of Jesus] anointed [chose] the apostles [Jesus chose those of FDS1 and Paul chose those of FDS2], and the apostles anointed us [chose by water baptism into their own tribe every member of that tribe]. He who has been anointed [chosen to be a God] possesses everything [he has everlasting life]. He possesses the resurrection, the light, the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber [of the marriage of the 2nd Holy Spirit on 33Nisan16-22, which Jesus was the head of]; he merely accepted (the gift). The [the character of the] Father was in the Son and the [spirit of the] Son [was] in the [the divine body of the] Father [after his resurrection before he split off in his own divine body becoming a true God]. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.
So Jesus was promised everlasting angelic life subject to his angelic ransom.
Once the son has grasped and accepted and fully incorporated the righteousness and love of Jehovah into his own character, then God will incorporate the spirit of that son into his own body and then divide that body in two creating a new God. And there is the whole plan of the Kingdom of Heaven in one sentence.
This is not such an alien concept. Every mother gives birth in this way. In fact the Father becomes the mother when he gives birth to a God, and to paraphrase Jesus: What has been born from flesh is flesh, what has been born from spirit is spirit and what has been born from God is God. So God is the father of our flesh and our spirit but is the mother of our divinity.
God is the mother of our divinity!