Will you be Gods?

There's a basic litmus test in mainstream Christianity today that requires a person to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity in order to be accepted into almost any Christian denomination. Even other Sabbath-keeping denominations like the Seventh-day Adventists believe in the Trinity. And this teaching is that the Holy Spirit is a third divine person in the Trinity, along with the Father and the Son. And we're familiar with this. But we know that a closer look at the Bible reveals many problems with this view. It's simply not biblical, and it does not express the true nature of God.

So, can you become a Christian if you deny the Trinity?

According to the huge California church, Grace2U, according to their website at gty.org, they asked a question on there, can you become a Christian if you deny the Trinity? And this mega-church's answer is no.

They say, if you don't believe in the Trinity, then you don't understand who God is.

Of course, we would beg to differ, wouldn't we?

And it is a tragedy that the Christian world has embraced such a giant fraud that he's actually rooted in pagan philosophy.

The teaching of the Trinity asserts that the Holy Spirit is a divine person.

But this doctrine was foreign to the writers of the Bible, and originated several centuries after the New Testament was written.

And so we have to ask ourselves, how then does the Bible define the Holy Spirit if it's not this commonly accepted view of the Trinity? Here in this day of Pentecost, let's confirm what the Holy Spirit is and see how it affects our lives as Christians.

And let's look at our marvelous potential in God's family. Because the teaching of the Trinity masks the truth of what God has in mind for each one of us.

And so I've titled this sermon with a question.

And the question is, will you be gods?

Will you be gods?

What we're going to cover here today is not something you'll hear anywhere else on Sunday today.

At least outside of the churches of God, that is.

So just what is the Holy Spirit? One of the simplest descriptions the Bible gives is it's the power of the highest. The power of the highest. Look at Zechariah chapter 4. Turn with me to Zechariah chapter 4 for a moment. And look at verse 6. Zechariah 4 verse 6. Because rather than describing the Holy Spirit as a distinct person or entity, the Bible refers to it and connects it with God's divine power. Zechariah 4 verse 6.

So he answered and said to me, quote, This is the word of the Lord to the rubber bell. And here it is. Not by your might, nor by your power, but by my spirit. Said the Lord of hosts. So Zechariah is writing here it's God's power and might, not our own power and might. Right? Not by your power, your might, but by the power of my spirit, is what God is saying.

Look over at Micah chapter 3 verse 8. Just one more passage here for a moment. Micah 3 and verse 8. Micah writes, But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, by the Spirit of the Eternal.

He said that Spirit is giving me power, the power of the Spirit. And he says, and of justice and might. So might is having power, isn't it? To declare to Jacob his transgression and Israel his sin. So Jewish scholars examining the references to it in the Old Testament scriptures have never defined the Holy Spirit as anything but the power of God. The Jews always felt the Holy Spirit was the power of God. Remember that the apostle Paul referred to it as the Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

That's in 2 Timothy. Paul called it the Spirit of power and of love and a sound mind.

Here's another example. In informing Mary that Jesus would be supernaturally conceived in her womb, an angel told her this. It's from Luke chapter 1. The Holy Spirit will come upon you.

And then the divine messenger, this angel, described the Spirit to her as, quote, the power of the highest which will overshadow you. So the angel told Mary, the power of the highest. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. He didn't say it was a person. No.

And as we read yesterday from Acts 1 verse 8, in a noteworthy Pentecost-related statement, Jesus told his followers, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And that's what this day is all about observing, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Peter related in the book of Acts that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. That's in Acts chapter 10. Not expecting you to try and write all these down or anything, but I'm just giving you a bit of an overview, covering a little ground here, that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.

And likewise, Jesus worked through the Apostle Paul in many signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. That's in Romans 15. By the power of the Spirit of God. Romans 15.

And so, what have churches done when confronted with such Scriptures?

Let me read to you from the New Catholic Encyclopedia. From the New Catholic Encyclopedia. From their entry on the Spirit of God. This is from volume 13 on the Spirit of God, page 574. If anybody's listening and wants to actually write it down. The Catholic Encyclopedia says, The Old Testament clearly does not envisage God's Spirit as a person. Oh, okay. God's Spirit is simply God's power. Oh. The majority of New Testament texts reveal God's Spirit as some thing, not some one. And it concludes, This is especially seen in the parallelism between the Spirit and the power of God. So that's from the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

You can't really deny the Scriptures, can you? And neither can they.

There's a reference work called a Catholic Dictionary. And in their section on the Holy Trinity, of all things, on page 827, they say, On the whole, the New Testament, like the Old Testament, speaks of the Spirit as a divine energy or power.

So why does the founder of the Trinity doctrine, the Roman Catholic Church, foster this idea when they openly acknowledge that it's not a biblical concept? Well, I believe, I believe, and you probably believe too, that it's because they've been influenced spiritually to turn people away from the true purpose of our destiny in the family of God.

God's Word shows that the Holy Spirit is the very nature of the Holy Trinity. The nature, presence, and expression of God's power that can actively work in us when given to us. It's also shown to be the mind of God, the very essence and life force through which the Father begets human beings as his spiritual children.

And that is our destiny to become children in God's family. The Holy Spirit is a very vital aspect of God, the agency through which the Father and Christ both work.

A little more background for you. In this article about the Holy Spirit, the Anchor Bible Dictionary, I'm just going to write it down, Volume 3, page 260, okay? The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes it as the manifestation of divine presence and power, perceptible, especially in prophetic inspiration.

The Holy Spirit is spoken of in many ways that demonstrate that it is not a divine person, despite what is commonly believed.

For example, it is referred to as a gift, not a person. It is referred to as a gift given without limit.

I've got all these scriptures in my margin here where all these things are said. If you have any questions, you can come see me afterward. I'm not going to quote every scripture. I'm just giving you an overview as we go through the subject here. A gift. Here's a few more that you're probably aware of. We're told the Holy Spirit cannot be quenched.

That it can be poured out on people.

And that we are baptized with it. See, it's not a person. It's not a thing. It's not someone. Sorry, it is a thing. It's not someone.

We're told people can drink of it, partake of it, and be filled with it.

We're told the Holy Spirit also renews us and must be stored up within us.

And these impersonal characteristics are certainly not attributes of a person or a personal being.

The Spirit is also described by other designations, like the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee of our inheritance, and the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. So it's not a person. Now, by contrast to God the Father and Jesus Christ, they are consistently compared to human beings in their form and shape.

But the Holy Spirit is consistently represented by various symbols and manifestations in a completely different manner.

The Almighty God is referred to as having white hair and power and hands and feet, like a person kind of. The Holy Spirit is never described like that. Instead, the Holy Spirit is described as breath, or wind, or fire, or like water, or like oil. Remember the parable of the ten virgins trimming their oil lamps? Their Holy Spirit was running out? It's spoken of as like oil. It's also spoken of as an earnest or down payment on eternal life.

Look at Matthew 1, verse 20. Let's turn there for a moment. Because, to say the least, these depictions are difficult to understand if the Holy Spirit is a person. But notice Matthew 1, verse 20. Good one to read here.

So this is Joseph about to find out that Mary, his fiancée, is pregnant. He's like, how on earth did that happen? Matthew 1, verse 20. If you think about this verse, here is where we find further proof that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person. But God's divine power. Here we read that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. However, remember Jesus continually prayed to and addressed God the Father as his father.

Now, let's look at Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Matthew 1, verse 20. Jesus continually prayed to and addressed God the Father as his father. Not ever as the Holy Spirit as his father. He never represented the Holy Spirit as his father, did he?

But he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit wasn't his father or a person. It was a power of God that enabled him to be born. Clearly, the Holy Spirit is the agency or power through which the Father not only begot Jesus as his son, but also begets us as well into his family. And so, contrary to the Trinitarian teaching, Scripture reveals the Holy Spirit not as a person, but as something much different, the divine power through which God acts.

We've had some interesting experiences over the past 18 to 20 years, beginning when we first started to air our Good News Radio program, United Church of God. Gary Petty was our first Good News Radio program presenter. He used to come into Cincinnati once every three months and do eight or ten programs at a time.

That'll keep us going in for a few months. And you might think, and most media representatives would tell us, that we could expect the most response to our radio program, the most success, by airing our program on religious stations. But we found the opposite. We found that our radio program did best on generic news talk stations. You know, the kind of stations that Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity are on. We did best on those stations, not religious stations, because our contracts on Christian radio stations were often canceled by the station within just a few weeks of us going on the air with them. Why? Because they would receive calls saying, don't you know that this Good News program, that that church doesn't believe in the Trinity?

And we'd get our contract canceled. And we'd say, why? And there'd be no explanation. One of the major problems with the Trinity Doctrine is that it shields understanding of the crucial role of God's Spirit as the power of God and what that means for our eternal destiny. Look at Romans chapter 1 for a moment. The Holy Spirit is a power that made and sustains the universe through God. It's the same power we can receive directly from God, too. This Spirit empowers us to live a life of growing and overcoming and of transforming our lives to become like Jesus Christ.

In more ways than one, actually, as we'll see in a moment. Romans 12 verse 1. Paul wrote to the Roman church, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And verse 2, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So what we're reading here is that when we're called to the truth, yes, we can come as we are, but we're not supposed to stay like that. We're expected to change. We're expected to transform. We're expected to overcome and have our minds renewed. And that spirit is the power of God that transforms our lives and renews our minds. Early in Romans, in chapter 8, if you want to just flip back to Romans chapter 8 verse 14, Paul helps us understand how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a Christian. And in chapter 8 verse 14, he writes that, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

So if you're led by the Spirit of God, you are a son or daughter of God. And so we see that to be considered God's children, we must be led by the Spirit. In Romans 8 verse 9, Paul has a similar thought. By dogmatically stating to the Roman Church that if you do not have God's Spirit, which is actually mentioned here as Christ's Spirit, if you don't have the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, dwelling in you, he says, you are not His.

You see how important having the Holy Spirit is? If you want to be a son or daughter of God, you have to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. It is through the power and influence of God's Spirit that we allow Christ then to live in us. And we succeed through God's power and help, rather than through our own efforts. And so the overcoming we succeed at has the glory and honor go to God, not to us. It's God working in us. So how does the Holy Spirit lead us?

Let's look at a few key areas where we receive divine help through God's Spirit. This is something from another world, this kind of help that we receive. Because this day of Pentecost is a good time to look at these. Without the power of God's Spirit, we can't have no deep close relationship with the Father. Nor can we become His children. It's because the Spirit dwells in us that we are called the children of God. God's Spirit doesn't drive us or drag us or push us around. No, it leads us, as we read a moment ago in Romans. It won't prevent us from sinning.

It won't stop you from doing something wrong. It won't force us to do what's right. But it will be leading us and we have to be willing to follow. So let's consider a few ways how God's Spirit does lead us. I'm going to look at just one scripture for each way. Of course, you know, there are more for each of these few points. But we'll keep it just to one scripture under each point, just to illustrate it.

Because I have a very important follow-up and reminder that I want to emphasize at the end of this. Number one, the Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind. If you wanted to make a note of that, number one, the Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind.

It gives a spiritual understanding. First John 3 verse 24, if you're going to write that one down. First John 3 verse 24, God's Spirit works with our mind. And the Apostle John describes it this way in First John 3 verse 24, Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him, and by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit which he has given us.

Through God's Spirit which he gives us, we can be influenced by him for the good. And it says, and we can obey his commandments. When Jesus promised the apostles he would send the Spirit to them, he said it would guide them in all truth. It's one of those passages we read at the Passover service from John 16. The Spirit will guide us in all truth, we're told. You see, the Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind, puts us in touch with a different spiritual dimension. Number two, God's Spirit inspires a deeper understanding of his word and will. A deeper understanding of his word and his will.

If you want to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, there's a classic passage here about the Holy Spirit giving us this kind of understanding. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9. I'll read it to you. It is written, I has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for for those who love him.

This is not normal understanding. But, verse 10, God has revealed it to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. Then in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11, for what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of man which is in him?

So we've got our own human Spirit, right, that gives us a consciousness. But even so, at the end of verse 11, no one knows the things of God unless they have the Spirit of God. So a true spiritual understanding about the nature and purpose of God and now our destiny comes from having the Spirit live in us. Without God's Spirit, a person cannot understand God's divinely expressed word and will. In fact, verse 14 says, because it's foolishness to him nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

So the Holy Spirit gives us an understanding of God's word and will, his purpose and will. Number three, the Holy Spirit makes overcoming possible.

Nothing is too difficult when we have the power of God working in our lives. It may be difficult, but nothing is too difficult when we have the power of God working in our lives because the Holy Spirit makes overcoming possible. I'm going to just mention to you Romans 8 verse 26 in this point. Romans 8 verse 26. Likewise, Paul said to the Romans, of course, Romans chapter 8 is a classic chapter about the Holy Spirit. Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we all, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. You see, God's Spirit intercedes and helps us, it says, in our weaknesses. It helps us work through our weaknesses to overcome and become strong because the Christian life is to be one of overcoming this world and overcoming Satan and overcoming our own selfishness that we all inherently have. We love to look out for ourselves more than others, don't we? The Holy Spirit helps us think beyond ourselves, though, and to overcome. We must realize that God doesn't want us to remain just as we are when He called us, like I said. Instead, we must not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We read that a moment ago in Romans 12. We have to be transformed and renewed and overcome. Christianity is a lifelong process of overcoming and growing, of transforming our thoughts and our mind to become like Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit is what makes this overcoming possible. The Spirit of God, number four, convicts our conscience and helps us see sin as it really is. The Holy Spirit convicts our conscience and helps us see sin as it really is. It helps us to recognize and avoid sin, too. I would like to turn to John 16 and read verse 8 with you because it's an important passage when we think of this day of Pentecost and the power of the Holy Spirit in us. John 16 verse 8, it's another one of those passages we read at the Passover service, where Christ told His disciples shortly before He was crucified. In referring to the Holy Spirit, He said, when the Holy Spirit has come, it will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. It will convict. So in speaking of the Holy Spirit, which would be given to His followers after His death and resurrection, Jesus said it would convict the world of sin. The guilt we feel when we do something wrong is real. It's convicting us and making us feel guilty, making us feel bad. Our mind, our heart, our conscience is pricked. And we see sin as it really is, and then we want to change. We don't want to do it again. We want to repent, because the Holy Spirit will convict us in our conscience of sin. Number five, the Holy Spirit produces godly fruit in us. It produces godly fruit in us.

So what does an apple tree produce? Oranges. Apples, right?

Well, God's Spirit produces a particular type of fruit, too, in the life of a Christian. It's godly fruit. It's the fruit of the Spirit. Paul lists that fruit for us, of course, and those who are led by God's Spirit, those who have God's Spirit within, should express love and joy and peace and patience and gentleness and goodness, faithfulness, self-control, perseverance.

Of course, that's another whole sermon, right? I'm asking ourselves, do we have all those attributes in our lives? Are we peaceful and joyful and patient and loving and faithful to God's Word? Look in 2 Peter chapter 1. Let's read verses 3 through 7 about this godly fruit. Because the Apostle Peter sums up the process of growing in spiritual maturity. 2 Peter 1 verse 3. His divine power, talking of the Holy Spirit, right? His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. So he's called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us, verse 4, exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these promises, note, you may be partakers of the divine nature.

So that's the promise that's being held out before us, to be partakers of the divine nature, to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. See, lust is bad.

So for this very reason, verse 5, if you want to be partakers of the divine nature, then give all diligence and add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and he will see fruits of the Spirit to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. Kind of the ultimate end of the list is having the love of God. So the Holy Spirit produces godly fruit in us. Virtue, perseverance, kindness, diligence, and love, so that we may be partakers of the divine nature. And we're actually going to talk about partaking of the divine nature in just a minute, because it's a very important concept to consider. A sixth point here about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God comforts and encourages and helps us. Comforts, encourages, and helps us. Remember that Jesus Christ promised to send his followers after his crucifixion the Holy Spirit as a helper or comforter. Remember that? He said that the comforter will come. The helper will come. That's in John chapter 14. Once again, a passage that we often read at Passover. I'll read it to you. It's John 14 verses 16 and 17. John 14 verse 16 says, I will pray to the Father. Here's what he told the disciples shortly before he died. And the Father will give you another helper, that it may abide with you forever. The Spirit of Truth. This helper is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees it nor knows it, but you know it. And it dwells with you and will be in you. So Christ said, this Spirit of God, this comforter, this helper, will be in you. And that's what happened on the day of Pentecost as we read in Acts chapter 2. The Spirit came down from heaven on that day of Pentecost, visibly like a miracle that they could actually see and realize what was happening, and it filled them. It was in them. And upon baptism, and the laying on of hands, that's what happens to each of us. We are given a little bit of that divine power in our lives, as we're told, as an earnest of our inheritance. It's a part of what we're going to become. True comfort and reassurance comes from God's Spirit dwelling in us. And so we need not be unduly worried about what may happen to us. Yes, we worry about things, but we shouldn't be overly anxious or unduly worried about what may happen to us, because God's Spirit gives us assurance that whatever happens, we'll work out for the best to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

It's in Romans 8 as well, right? There's a lot in Romans chapter 8 to study.

Whatever happens, we'll work out for the best for those who love God and are called to His purpose. And this assurance provides an outlook on life that is rare in our world. Yes, we can get discouraged. Things don't always go right, and we live a life of various trials and problems and issues that test our faith, but it's for a reason.

It's through the Holy Spirit that we can begin to look at life differently. We know what the outcome will be. God works in our lives through His Holy Spirit to transform us. And then He gets to obey Him and grow in His way. Then, at the resurrection, we will experience an awe-inspiring transformation to spirit life at Christ's return.

So that little bit of the Holy Spirit we have in us now will eventually transform us to the point where we too will become spirit at the resurrection.

So that's just a little bit about how the Holy Spirit works with us, right? It comforts us and strengthens us and empowers us. Let's now examine how God's Spirit can help lead us to our ultimate destiny.

Because this ultimate destiny is clouded by the false Trinity teaching.

There's a reason why I talked about the Trinity to begin with.

With a true understanding of the Holy Spirit, our destiny becomes clear.

And so I ask, are you gods?

Let's get to the heart of this matter. This is what I wanted to focus on here now for the remainder. Look at John 10.

The Jews of Jesus' day accused him of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God.

John 10, verse 33 is what I want to read here. John 10, verse 33.

The Jews answered Jesus saying, because he said, why do you want to stone me? And they said, for good work we do not stone. We do not stone you. If you do things that are good, we won't stone you. But for blasphemy and because you being a man make yourself God. That's why we're going to stone you.

Jesus answered and said to them, is it not written in your law? You quote like, you know, at the synagogue every other week. I said, you are gods. Verse 35, if he called them God, says Jesus, to whom the Word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, he reminds them. Verse 36, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you know, do you say to me who was sent by the Father that you are blaspheming because I said I'm the Son of God? In other words, Christ said, is Scripture outright called human beings gods? Why are you upset when I merely state that I'm God's Son?

And so we ask, yet are human beings actually gods? What did he mean by this? He was actually quoting from Psalm 82, verse 6. So let's read Psalm 82, verse 6.

This is what Jesus quoted.

Psalm 82, 6, we read, I said, you are gods and all of you are children of the Most High.

And the key word here is children. Children.

We must understand that God is creating a family.

But not just any kind of family, He's creating a divine family of more than one person.

As we know from Scripture, there is one God, comprising right now two beings. The God family from the beginning comprised two divine beings, God and the Word, which we read about in John chapter 1.

The Word became flesh 2000 years ago as the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And after Jesus' human life and death, He was resurrected, as we know, to divine spirit existence again, as, quote, first born from the dead. Why first born from the dead? I think it's in Colossians chapter 1. And first born among many brethren.

The first among many. That's in Romans chapter 8 again, okay?

Let's look at Romans 8, 29, actually. Romans 8 verse 29. And then, Paul says, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he, the Son, Jesus, might be the first born among many brethren. Who are the many brethren?

It's the saints. It's God's people. It's Christ's brothers and sisters. He's known as our elder brother, right? It's the brethren. It's you and me, who are mentioned here in Romans chapter 8 verse 29.

Jesus was spiritually born in the resurrection as the first of many brethren or children to follow later.

That's why in Psalm 82 verse 6, when the question was asked, he said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.

Look at Acts chapter 17 here.

Acts 17 talks about us being God's offspring.

Acts 17 verse 28 and 29 is what I wanted to have us look at here. Acts 17 verse 28.

For in him, in God, in Christ, we live and move and have our being. So we live our lives for God. As also some of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

The Greek word for offspring here is genos. G-E-N-O-S.

Verse 29. Therefore, since we are the offspring, the genos of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone. It's not something shaped by art and man's devising. So, no, this is something different. The Greek word for offspring, genos, here means, it can be translated as, we are his kindred. We are God's race. We are God's kind. We are God's stock. Or we are God's family. That's how the word genos can be translated. So here, the New King James says, we are his offspring. But it could say, we are God's kind. Or God's race.

Or God's stock.

Genesis 1, of course, reminds us that God's purpose in creating man in his own image and his own likeness was to make him according to the God-kind, to thus reproduce himself through mankind.

Like I said, this is not something you're going to hear down on the other corner.

And so, in the ancient Hebrew, Psalm 82 verse 6, it's much easier to understand in this light. In verse 6, the word gods is equated with children of the most high. When he said, I said you were God's, children of the most high. We are his genos.

And this then makes perfect sense. When an entity bears offspring, its offspring are the same kind, the same stock, the same race or genus. The offspring of cats are cats.

The offspring of dogs are dogs.

The offspring of human beings are human beings.

The offspring of God are, in Christ's own words, gods. We have to be careful here, though, of course. Human beings are not literally gods yet. We're not... don't think you're God. Don't get the big head. Okay? We're currently human beings, but that is our destiny. At present, yes, we have been created in God's image, and God's likeness, but on a physical, mortal level, with very limited power, very limited dominion.

We're resembling God, but without his divine character and glory.

But another aspect of this is that man has the ultimate potential of becoming the same kind of beings the Father and Christ now are, and we will have glory and divinity.

Amazingly, God's purpose is to exalt human beings from this fleshly existence at the resurrection to the divine spirit existence that he has. And so, the Pharisees said, Christ to Christ, that is blasphemy, to even call yourself the Son of God.

The ultimate outcome for us, if we do our part, is divine glory.

We are God's children. Let's turn back to Romans 8 and read verses 16 and 17. Romans 8 verse 16. Let's get a more complete picture of what God is doing.

The spiritual reproductive process starts with God's Spirit joining with our human spirit. We read about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, right? How God's Spirit gives a spiritual understanding. Romans 8 verse 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, if we overcome, if we work on this, that we may also be glorified together. He's saying glorified together with Christ. So through this miraculous union of God's Spirit and our Spirit, we become partakers of the divine nature. Remember we read that in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4, when Peter said, you can become partakers of the divine nature. If you do all these things, then he listed the fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit-begotten Christian is a child of God, an actual member of the God family. But not yet in an ultimate sense while we're sitting here, obviously. As children, we must still go through a development process in this life. A period of building godly character, becoming more and more like God, putting off Satan, putting off this world, putting off our own selfishness, and becoming more like God in the way we think and behave. And as we know, this is all made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, as pictured by the previous Holy Days of Passover and Unleavened Bread. You have to take on Christ. Take in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We have to take in Jesus Christ and then change our character. And at the end of this life, in the resurrection, at Christ's return, we will be changed. First John chapter 3. Because we will be changing to divine spirit beings like the Father and Christ. So look at this amazing truth recorded by the apostle John in 1 John chapter 3, the first two verses. 1 John 3 verse 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are now children of God, but it hasn't yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him.

For we shall see Him as He is. So what we'll be like? We'll be like Christ.

It's pretty plain language. I'm going to read a few others to you here. You can make a note of them if you want. I'm going to just quote them to you if you want to write them down. You don't have to turn there right now, but 1 Peter 5.10. 1 Peter 5.10 says, But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish strength, and settle you. But He said He called us to eternal glory through Christ. 2 Corinthians 3.18. 2 Corinthians 3.18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. So it's the Spirit in us that makes that possible. So He says we look in the mirror, and what we should see coming back at us as a reflection should be the image of Christ. Here's what He's saying in 2 Corinthians 3.18. When we look in the mirror, the spiritual mirror, we should see Christ being reflected from us. From glory to glory, it says. 1 Thessalonians 2.12. Walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2.12. We've been called to God's kingdom and to glory. 2 Thessalonians 1.27. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. So we were talking yesterday how the truth was given to the Gentiles as well. Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 2 Thessalonians 1.27. We have the hope of glory in us when Christ and His Spirit are in us. 1 Hebrews 2.10.

Hebrews 2.10, which I believe was written by the Apostle Paul. For it was fitting for Him, capital H, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. That's actually in the United Church of God's vision statement about helping to bring many sons to glory. What does that mean to be glorified? We're told it means to be like Christ. As co-inheritors with Christ, we will receive dominion over all things, including the entire vast universe along with Jesus Christ. Just think, to truly exercise dominion over all things, imagine what it would be like to have control over the universe, including the raging thermonuclear furnaces of 50 billion trillion suns and every subatomic particle of every atom of every molecule in the cosmic expanse.

Just think, that requires the omnipotent power of God.

If you want to be able to help sustain that inheritance, control that kind of power, you too will need the power of God on your side.

As human beings, we couldn't count all the individual stars of the entire universe at one per second in a trillion lifetimes. If you counted the stars at one every second, you couldn't count them all in a trillion lifetimes. But God, in a passing remark, says, I know all the stars by name.

You see the kind of power that you have to inherit? Consider this. Converted human beings are to one day possess divine nature, divine glory, and total power over the creation, sharing God's infinite knowledge. And all of this would require nothing less than divinity ourselves. You can't do that as a human being or with anything less than the power of God. This biblical truth that is hidden by the common doctrine of the Trinity comes as quite a shock to those who have only heard of the traditional view of mainstream Christianity regarding the ultimate reward as simply going to heaven.

That's a falsehood.

Even the so-called early church fathers that many mainstream churches, you know, admire, understood this incredible truth, at least in part. Let me quote you a couple of the early church fathers. Here's one from the second century from Irenaeus in his book Against Heresies. In book three, chapter 19, section one, Irenaeus says, The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature. For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man, so that man, by entering into communion with the Word, and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a Son of God. So that was in the second century. Here's one from Irenaeus from the fourth century from his work on the incarnation of the Word, chapter 54, section 3. Irenaeus says, For the Son of God became man, so that we might become God.

So the early church fathers kind of understood this. Thomas Aquinas from his apostolum 57, lectures 1 through 4, page 112, says, The only begotten Son of God, wanting to make us share in His divinity, assumed our nature, you know, like as a human being, so that He made man, might make men, gods. See, that's why Christ came. And here's one more for you from the anti-Nicene fathers against homogenies, chapter 5, volume 3, page 480. Okay? So this is from Tertullian, writing in around AD 200. For we will be even gods. If we deserve to be among those of whom he declared, I have said you are gods. And God stands in the congregation of the gods. But this comes out of His own grace, not from any property in us. For it is He alone who can make gods. You see, this was the commonly accepted view during the early Christian centuries, before heresy took hold, and the Trinity doctrine took hold, and Easter took hold, and all the other abominable beliefs. The earliest theologians, closest to the original apostolic source, show no hint of Trinitarian ideas, but they did teach about becoming like God. Consider this remarkable statement from the 2nd century bishop, Arrhenius, again, who was taught when young by a disciple of the Apostle John. So Arrhenius was taught by a disciple of John in the 2nd century. He says, from Against Terrieses in Book 4, There is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all and the Son. And those who possess the adoption. So he said, no one is called God except the Father, the Son, and those who adopted. So rather than the Trinitarian one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Arrhenius proclaimed one God that includes the Father, the Son, and us. The multitude of other sons brought into glory, he says. More recent authors of the more recent authors of the glimpse of biblical truth about man's destiny. Let me just quote a short piece from C.S. Lewis. Okay? So one of the most popular Christian writers of the last century. C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, page 176, says, God said in the Bible that we were gods, and he is going to make good his words if we let him, for we can prevent him if we choose. The process will be long and in parts very painful. Yeah, we know that. But that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what he said. So that was C.S. Lewis. God is preparing to add others to his family. There is no doubt. Again, they're at present two divine family members of the God family, two distinct beings, God the Father and God the Son, or Jesus Christ. And as incredible as it may sound, there are more to come.

Those who enter this family as glorified and immortal children of God, of course, will never challenge the preeminence of the Father and Christ as leaders of the family. And that's why we are being tested here now first to make sure we will never challenge their authority, as happened in the demonic world. We're being tested here now to make sure we never challenge the Father and the Son if we're going to be part of that family.

The Father and Jesus Christ will remain at the top of the family forever. And unlike us, the Father and the Son, the Father and the Word are uncreated, living eternally throughout time without beginning. So this is then why we are here.

This is the ultimate potential and destiny of humankind.

It's the awe-inspiring purpose for which we are created. As Jesus quoted, seeing our future, he said, you are God's. He saw what we were to become. Our future can't get any higher or better than that.

The Trinity is a closed family teaching. It doesn't allow for it. It doesn't allow for God's family to expand like this. It denies the greatest truth we can know, that God is growing a family of which we can become part, and of which even now, after receiving a down payment of the inheritance through the Holy Spirit of baptism, can appreciate. What a great tragedy that the Christian world has embraced such a giant fraud. Rooted actually in pagan philosophy and religion. That's another whole sermon, another whole study as to how the Trinity doctrine came from paganism.

Thankfully, the truth of God is plain for those with eyes to see, led by his spirit. The truth astounds the mind, and it's an intensity, an immensity, and grandeur and scope.

May you hold fast. May I hold fast. May we all hold fast to the stunning and glorious destiny God has promised to us in his word. And may we be filled with the power of his Holy Spirit on this day of Pentecost.