Q&A Day Questions We Didn't Get To: Like Father, Like Son.

In Revelation 5, God seated on the throne hands a book to the lamb (Jesus). If Jesus and God are one, how does God hand the book to Jesus?

How do we explain to unbelievers that God and Jesus are one when there are references in the Bible like this where they seem to be at the same place at the same time as two separate beings?

God revealed Himself in the Word as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three of these Persons are said to be God. And God is said to be One. Like your example from Revelation 5, there are other places in Scripture where Father, Son, and Spirit are all present at the same time. (e.g. Jesus’ baptism, Mark 1:9-11)

I don’t think this can be understood (or explained) by finite minds living in time and space. It’s like a fruit fly explaining how an iPhone works - except the intellectual gap between us and God is infinitely greater than the insect and the phone. God lives outside of time and space - we live inside time and space and only know of existence in those dimensions. So One God as Three Persons but not Three Gods…? I believe it, even if I don’t full understand it.

Biblical Evidence for Spiritual Questions...

What hard evidence (Biblical or otherwise) is there for the following:

*”heaven” as the place where the “true” Christians go immediately after death?

*”hell” as the place where the non-Christians and/or false Christians suffer eternally?

*the current doctrine of the Holy Trinity?

*the soul or mind as separate and distinct from the body, particularly the brain?

The “hard evidence” is Scripture, God’s revealed Word, God’s revelation of Himself - the Bible. Especially with the things asked about here, there is no other source material. No one on earth has seen God. I have never been to heaven or hell. I have never had someone go either place and send me a postcard. The only material we have on any of these things is God’s Word.

So, here are some places to go in the Bible to answer these questions.

1,2 - See Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20. Heaven and hell are described as real and eternal places.

3 - The Bible speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all as God (e.g. John 1:1). Many passages about this, check out “What We Believe >> Our Four Pillars and Doctrine” on our website.

4 - The Bible speaks of death as being a conscious/intelligent state, even though the brain of a deceased person stays in their body after they die.