YOU NO NOP LUKIM
“You no nop lukim!”
The subject of the Godhead is without argument one of those
Bible subjects that is very controversial. The Church of Rome did a good job in
introducing the dogma of the trinity into the religious world. Today with very
few exceptions the religious world accepts the dogma without serious
examination or debate.
I have wondered if this is not what Jesus was having
reference to when He spoke of the mystery of the woman and the leaven and meal,
in Matthew 13:33: The kingdom of heaven
is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal,
till the whole was leavened.
Was it just coincidence that this statement by our Lord is
found in, of all places, chapter 13 and verse 33 of Matthew?
From the councils of the Church of Rome has come the dogma
of the trinity. Beginning with the council of Nicea, the first to debate the
issue of the role that Jesus Christ played in the Godhead debate. Continuing in
other council meetings, the dogma was ironed out until it became the dogma of the
Catholic Church. And then later those that have branched off from her beginning
with Luther in 1517 they all accepted this dogma. Part of the Creed that came
out of the Athanasian council reads: “So there is one Father … one Son … one
Holy Ghost … and in this trinity none is afore or after the other, none is less
or greater than another. But the whole three persons are co-eternal together
and co-equal.”
The difference between the trinity adopted and introduced
into the religious world by the church of Rome and that of the pagan world from
which they borrowed it is the fact that in the pagan world of the Chaldean
mysteries there were three persons: Nimrod, Belus, and Semiramus. However, the
trinity of the church of Rome does not consist of three persons – except, of
course, in their mind and dogma. While they speak of the Father, Son and Holy
Ghost being three separate co-equal persons, they have no scriptural support
for their dogma.
ALL TIME – ALL TIME
The apostle Paul made an interesting statement when he said
in 1 Timothy 1:17: Now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever
and ever.
In this verse Paul sums up who and what God is!
He is King eternal.
He is King of the eternity that was before time existed or come into existence,
and the King of eternity that shall be when time is no longer a matter of
importance to the immortal.
He is immortal. That
is He is incorruptible. Nothing can affect Him or His character of being. What
he was ten million years ago He is today and will be ten million years from
today.
He is invisible. The
words of Adam Clarke are
appropriate: “One who fills all things, works everywhere, and yet is invisible
to angels and men; the perfect reverse of false gods and idols, who are confined
to one spot, work nowhere, and, being stocks and stones, are seen by every
body.”
The only wise God. The
word “wise” is omitted by many. Without the word it would read: The only God.
Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord plainly stated in 44:8: Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no
God; I know not any.
It does seem strange that man with all his intellect has the
ability to “know” something that God said He did not know: another God.
Regardless of how arguments are made concerning the subject
of there being a triune Godhead, it still comes down to the fact that if there
is argument of a trinity of persons then we must also conclude a trinity of
Gods. But Oh No, cries the Trinitarian; It is three persons in one God. They –
the Trinitarians – readily admit that it is a subject that is unexplainable and
must be accepted by faith.
I had the honor of speaking during the annual conference of
the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ PNG. While speaking through our
interpreter, Bro Patrick, my attention was arrested when I began to quote 1
Timothy 1:17: Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be
honour and glory for ever and ever.
Bro Patrick interpreted what I was saying into pidgin for
the people.
When I said that God was Eternal,
he interpreted: “All time, All time.” Their way of saying that God is eternal.
There is no time when He began to exist and no time when He will not exist.
But what really arrested my attention was when he
interpreted the next statement of what Paul said concerning God: Immortal, invisible. Bro Patrick said
that both words were interpreted the same way: “You no nop lukim!”
Paul was saying that we mortals cannot see or look upon God.
He is invisible to our eyes. There is no place where He is not to be found, and
no one place where He only dwells! He is Omnipresent.
If there were three persons in the Godhead, and God the
Father was person number one, where would He dwell? If there were three thrones
(which, of course there isn’t) in heaven that we shall some day kneel before,
how will we know which one God the Father is sitting in if He is invisible and
we are not able to look upon Him?
John clearly informed us in 1:18that no man
hath seen God at any time.
JESUS – GOD’S MANIFESTATION.
Jesus was God coming down to woo man back to Himself again.
Jesus was God manifesting Himself to His creation. God
dwelled in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19),
to reconcile the world back to Him.
Paul said in Colossians 1:15: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
There is that word “invisible” again. The only way one will ever see God is
through the Lord Jesus Christ. God chose to manifest Himself through the man
Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself said to Philip in John 14:9: Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou
then, Shew us the Father?
When it comes to seeing Jesus Christ, every eye shall see him,
(Revelation 1:7).
When it comes to seeing God: You no nop lukim. (John 1:18).
When it comes to seeing the Holy Spirit: The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of
the Spirit. (John 3:8). When was the last time you saw the wind?
You no nop lukim!
