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As to omnipresence, we know that Christ “ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10). He, like the Sun, now has influence over all. The Sun’s light and warmth penetrates everywhere as does the influence of Christ. However it is God that has placed Him in that position (Acts 2:33; 5:31). God did not place Him in a position that he already had. He has “become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). It is all what God has done to Christ and for that we should praise and bless God as the disciples did (Luke 24:52/53) - He is the one who is responsible for the glorious position that Christ now has (Ephesians 1:15-23). |
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The burden of this article is that the Father has glory which applies to Him alone. Christ has glory which applies to Him alone, though He also has glory which He shares with his Father (Revelation 3:21). Applying to Christ the things predicated only of God the Father, apart from leading us into unreality, denigrates the Father. It is asserting that all the Father has, Christ has. This is wrong. It may be defended as glorifying Christ, but what it is actually doing is dishonouring God, his Father. Christ has glories that the Father has not - all that is given to Him by God (1 Peter 1:21). Applying to Him all that the Father has, as well as his own glory is effectively making Him greater than his Father which is clearly wrong. The creeds, such as the so-called Athanasian creed, effectively do this and are therefore erroneous. |
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From one point of view the assertion that Christ has all the glory that God the Father has is a reaction against teaching that would claim that Christ is a created being, whether that is a man like Buddha, Confucius or Mohammed; or an angel or archangel. Certainly Christ’s earthly body was prepared for Him (Hebrews 10:5), but as to all that He was essentially He was out of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47; John 6:38). It is going from one extreme to the other. The result is that Christ gets continually spoken of as God, rather |