The Express Image

Why I Reject the Trinity Part: 7

Hebrews 1:3

“Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image (charaktēr- χαρακτήρ - engraving or carving, precise reproduction in every respect) of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

John 5:18-19
“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”

John 14:8-10
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

2 Corinthians 5:19
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

I believe that Jesus was the vessel or vehicle for the Father. Jesus willed himself to the Father as an earthsuit so the Father could access to our planet. (see THIS and THAT) The Father was literally inside of Jesus using his physical body to reconcile Himself (the Father) to the world. Jesus willfully submitted himself to this ministry of reconciliation even to death. He did not act or speak unless the Father told him to. He literally spoke on behalf of the Father and at times his mouth was speaking as the Father in first person. This is why people are confused about the words Jesus speaks. Not only in the sense of his dispensation of ministry but speaking as the Father. There were two distinct beings willing themselves into complete harmony. The Father was fully expressing himself physically and vocally through His son.

I've never raised or spent much time with horses but my wife has. She has grown up loving them, riding them, and winning competitions with them. When she talks about horses it is like a relationship that I don't quite understand. She would control this massive animal and make it do things that it would not naturally do. The horse had a desire of its own but it trusted and submitted to Carla (my wife) and because of that Carla was able to do things through the horse she could not have done on her own. In a very crude way this is how I view the co-ministry of the Father and Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

I have heard this as a Trinitarian proof but you can’t take “The mighty God” without taking “The everlasting Father.” Is he the Trinitarian Son or the Father? Not only does this verse fail to harmonize with Trinity it in fact strengthens my point. The reason Jesus was called the everlasting Father and Immanuel – God with us, is not because he himself was the Father, but rather he was the vehicle for the Father. The Father was on earth inside Jesus, therefore God was truly with us. He was with us in Christ.

Those who saw Jesus saw the Father. Not because he is the Father but because he submitted himself to be the express image (charaktēr) of Him who was moving and speaking through our Lord. And the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in his body. (Colossians 1:19) That is to say God fully dwelled in something other than himself. They were in symbiosis.

PART 8