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Jesus Had To Be A Man

This is not meant to be an exhaustive consideration of this topic. I refer you to other Biblical Unitarian writers, all of whom back up from Scripture their view that Jesus is the Son of God and not God. It is important to recognize who he is, since his identity as the promised Messiah is part of the Gospel of the coming Kingdom, the acceptance of which is the key to eternal life.

If you subscribe to Anthony Buzzard’s excellent monthly newsletter “Focus on the Kingdom“, you probably are aware this year’s version of his annual Theological Conference (the 19th) is coming up at the end of next month.  KingdomReady’s very own Sean Finnegan has attended in year’s past, though his busy Masters school schedule will keep him away this time around.  However I’m planning on attending for the first time, and I wanted to invite all of you to attend if you have the opportunity.  There are so few chances for fellow truth-seekers like ourselves to get together in person and learn from one-another, fellowship, and hopefully build lasting friendships in our all-too-small (but hopefully growing) faith. Below is a nice overview from Anthony’s last newsletter.  Hope to see you there!

Some verses are just ‘refrigerator verses,’ you know?  I mean the kind like John 3:16 which gives a great message, makes you feel good, and you’re not afraid to post it for all to see.  People post verses on bumper stickers, t-shirts, refrigerator magnets, Facebook statuses, and I even have some stenciled on my walls.  I love the reminder of God’s words being everywhere my eyes might happen to fall.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9 comes to mind, which says, “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

But what do you do with a verse like this one: “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.”  Hebrews 12:4.

This post below is from one of our frequent visitors Jaco.  It is an article by Nehemia Gordon.

History and Development

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and not God the Son. His belief about God reflected the central tenet of Jewish faith, that God is One.

As most of us are probably aware, there are very, very few “Unitarian Christians” in the world; i.e., Christians who recognize that Almighty God is only one person - our heavenly Father, Yahweh. In fact, the only belief that almost all mainstream churches agree on is that God is not one person, but rather that He is “three persons in one Godhead”.

As a result, the number of Unitarian Christians around the world is extremely limited - Unitarians presumably account for (much) less than 1% of all Christians. Therefore, in my opinion, it is very important for Unitarians to be able to fellowship with each other; even if we have disagreements about other issues.

(Facing God’s Calling Upon Your Life)

Most everyone is familiar with the story of Jonah in the Bible.  He even has his own book in the Old Testament named after him.  He was made famous for running away from God, getting swallowed by a big fish, then spewed out, so he could be obedient to God and go preach to Nineveh.  Jonah sometimes gets the bad rap because he didn’t really want to do what God asked, was disobedient, and had a bad attitude.  We, Sunday School teachers, shake our fingers at him, and say, ‘tsk tsk. See what happens when you don’t do what God has called you to do?’ Yet, how many times does God ask us to do much smaller, easier, insignificant things, and we turn away as if we didn’t hear Him ask?

I am leaving for Turkey today. As many of you know I’m working towards a master’s degree at Boston University. As part of that program, a class is being offered where I am able to travel to ancient Ephesos (near modern Selçuk in Turkey) to study ancient Roman culture. One of the major benefits of studying these ancient ruins is to become acquainted with the kind of world that was present when Paul first preached the gospel there. Furthermore, since Epehesos was a major metropolis, the capital of the Roman province of Asia, it is representative of other imperial cities.

We will be spending ten days in Turkey, and our time will be spent primarily among the ancient ruins of Ephesos, but we will also make short day trips to other locations (including Miletus, cf. Acts 20).

Thirty yeas ago this June while attending summer church camp as young teen, I sat in the open-air tabernacle listening to the evening evangelist give a dynamic and passionate sermon about Jesus’ 2nd coming.  The words he spoke, the Scripture verses he read aloud, the entire tone of his message struck a chord in my inner being.  In fact his sermons each previous night of the week-long camp were just as good and weighed heavily in my mind progressively.  But this final sermon of the week - on the final night of camp, seemed like God Himself was speaking through this man to give that particular sermon to ME.  At the alter call at the end of that service this minister asked if anyone else there in attendance wanted to accept Christ as their Lord & Savior (many had the previous nights & were also baptized).  A warmness overtook me and though at first my feet felt like they were nailed to the ground, the moment I decided I had to walk towards the front of the tabernacle, I could have sworn I floated like a feather down the aisle and up the front.  With tears in my eyes I knelt and confessed with my words and every emotional fiber within me, that I believed in and accepted Jesus of Nazareth as my Savior.  The next day before camp broke up, I was baptized in the same stream that my own grandmother had been baptized in some 50 years before.

In recent months, I have been examining more closely what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. Many people profess to be “Christians,” yet their words and deeds seem so far from Jesus’ example for us. When we do not truly reflect the image of Christ to others, we become stumbling blocks for other believers and for those who have not yet chosen to believe in Him and His coming Kingdom to the earth. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” I yearn to be an ambassador for Christ, effective in persuading people to get right with God (repent, believe in the Gospel of the Kingdom, and be baptized, then choose to live an obedient life to God)! Yet, it begs the question, how can I represent Jesus in a better light? How can I see more of God’s Spirit dwelling in me? How can I have an increase in love for others?