"Little" Gods - Really?
Dear reader, are you aware that there is a teaching that has been gaining ground in "Christian" sects, which basically teaches that we are, "little gods?" What do you think about that? Well feast your eyes upon some pictures on the left side of this article, pictures that show only a smidgen of the many different religious movements and belief systems that teach, we humans, are "little gods." Now to be honest, deep down, we all know that this is a lie, and I am here to tell you, that this lie isn't new, in fact it is very ancient. To get to the point, this teaching - that humans are "little gods" is what the Bible calls: a doctrine of demons, or a false teaching. How do I know that for sure? Well, let's look in Scripture and read where, when, and who first told this lie to the human race, it is found in Genesis 3:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surly die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened , and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing [experiencing] good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. [EMPHASIS MINE] -Genesis 3:1-7 NKJV Now then, when we read this account, there are somethings that we need to understand. I want us to remember that God is recounting this event to Moses, so that means the Almighty has had thousands of years after the actual incident occurred, to deliver his righteous take on what really happened. We also need to understand that God is a literary genius, and as such, he uses literary devices with expert flare, devices like: personification, metaphor, and irony, to only name a few of the hundred-plus figures of speech that are employed in Scripture. So what we must ascertain the answer to is, who was the villain in this piece of text, was he an actual serpent? If not, then who, or what does the 'serpent' represent in this historical account? It is my belief that in the Almighty's recounting of the fall of mankind, he is using a metaphor in a derogatory manner when he is making reference to the serpent as Eve's beguiler, because as opposed to a serpent,"the" is used as a specific article, where as the article "a" is general. |
So, why do I think that God is using a metaphor instead of talking about a literal snake? Well, for one, a metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. I would surmise that snakes and angels are not alike, but a certain fallen angel can easily be compared to a serpent. Besides, I'm sure most of us have heard the idiom: "he's a snake in the grass", right? When that idiom is stated, do we mean the person we are referring to is a literal snake in the grass? No. Besides, the serpent metaphor is decoded for us in Revelation 20:2 as being Satan. And certainly we know that serpents can't talk as they lack vocal cords. I suppose that Satan could have disguised himself as a talking serpent, or that he could have used ventriloquism, but that just doesn't seem to be a very wise thing to do in this situation. What I mean is, as amazing as a talking snake would be, it just doesn't compare to the visual awesomeness of a mighty, wise and beautiful cherub. After all, we humans are infamous for being highly influenced by beauty, rather than by talking snakes.
So why do I think God's reference to "the serpent" was really a beautiful cherub? Well, we are told in Ezekiel 28, that Lucifer, before becoming Satan, was full of wisdom and going by Scripture's description, he must have been quite a sight to behold. Also, his name means "light bearer", or "splendid star" in Arabic. Ancient wise-men equated light with knowledge and wisdom, and they also revered the stars. Even after his fall, Satan is still very intelligent, but in an evil genius sort of way, and he can still appear as a beautiful angle of light, if he so chooses. To be sure, he does have a measure of power and authority, but no where near the power and authority of his creator, the Almighty. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for us humans to give Satan far more power than he has, but on the other hand, we also tend to under estimate his cunning. That is why, in the beginning of this account, God wants us to understand that Satan is a created being, just as the lowly cattle, or beasts of the field are God's creation, but he is very cunning. Also something to consider, is that thanks to naturalists and their scientific observations, we know that compared to some animals, serpents themselves really aren't the most intelligent of God's creatures. So, God's usage of a talking serpent in the text is clearly a sort of derogatory epithet God uses for Satan, because he is clearly giving Satan a serpent's characteristics in the text, God is not being literal here.
Yes dear reader, once again, the account of Genesis 3 must be metaphorically referring to Satan as "the serpent" because, thanks to intrepid naturalists, we know that serpents are stealthy hunters, and use camouflage while they wait for their prey to happen by. They also hiss, and have a mouth full of deadly poison. Hissing, as performed by snakes, was used as an adjective in ancient times by God to denote the type of words that came from the lying mouths of false prophets. And the idea behind a mouth full of deadly poison, is an illusion to malicious lying or tale-bearing. Satan camouflaged his real evil intent with his radiant splendor as an anointed cherub, while he spewed his malicious lies where he was stationed at the tree of the knowledge of good an evil, and so, Eve never saw the deception coming; she was no match for her cunning serpent-like foe. This is still true today. Many, many, many people still fall for the evil one's hissed ancient lie: "You can be like the Most High." Why even go through all of this back story? Because, I want to make it clear that it was the fallen angel Satan who told this whopper, and not a literal slithering, tongue flicking reptile.
So why do I think God's reference to "the serpent" was really a beautiful cherub? Well, we are told in Ezekiel 28, that Lucifer, before becoming Satan, was full of wisdom and going by Scripture's description, he must have been quite a sight to behold. Also, his name means "light bearer", or "splendid star" in Arabic. Ancient wise-men equated light with knowledge and wisdom, and they also revered the stars. Even after his fall, Satan is still very intelligent, but in an evil genius sort of way, and he can still appear as a beautiful angle of light, if he so chooses. To be sure, he does have a measure of power and authority, but no where near the power and authority of his creator, the Almighty. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for us humans to give Satan far more power than he has, but on the other hand, we also tend to under estimate his cunning. That is why, in the beginning of this account, God wants us to understand that Satan is a created being, just as the lowly cattle, or beasts of the field are God's creation, but he is very cunning. Also something to consider, is that thanks to naturalists and their scientific observations, we know that compared to some animals, serpents themselves really aren't the most intelligent of God's creatures. So, God's usage of a talking serpent in the text is clearly a sort of derogatory epithet God uses for Satan, because he is clearly giving Satan a serpent's characteristics in the text, God is not being literal here.
Yes dear reader, once again, the account of Genesis 3 must be metaphorically referring to Satan as "the serpent" because, thanks to intrepid naturalists, we know that serpents are stealthy hunters, and use camouflage while they wait for their prey to happen by. They also hiss, and have a mouth full of deadly poison. Hissing, as performed by snakes, was used as an adjective in ancient times by God to denote the type of words that came from the lying mouths of false prophets. And the idea behind a mouth full of deadly poison, is an illusion to malicious lying or tale-bearing. Satan camouflaged his real evil intent with his radiant splendor as an anointed cherub, while he spewed his malicious lies where he was stationed at the tree of the knowledge of good an evil, and so, Eve never saw the deception coming; she was no match for her cunning serpent-like foe. This is still true today. Many, many, many people still fall for the evil one's hissed ancient lie: "You can be like the Most High." Why even go through all of this back story? Because, I want to make it clear that it was the fallen angel Satan who told this whopper, and not a literal slithering, tongue flicking reptile.
Messengers of False Light & Knowledge
Dear reader, can you think of at least two false religions that started thanks to miraculous visions of splendorous angelic beings who appeared to mortal men, and brought them false light, or knowledge, under the guise of being godly angels? I can. How about Mormonism and Islam? John Smith claimed to have been visited by the angel Moroni. This false bearer of "light" or "knowledge" claimed he was sent to tell John Smith that he would be given the "true" gospel. I find it fascinating that John Smith's religion retains the name of the lying angel, Moroni, while its subtitle "the church of Jesus Christ and later day saints" gives Jesus second billing. For me, that is very telling of this false teaching's origins, because Satan's five "I will" manifesto includes exalting himself above the Most High, which is exactly what is exhibited in Mormonism's title.
How about Islam? Muhammad [or Mohammad] was in a cave meditating in an altered state of consciousness that was induced after days and days of sleeplessness and fasting, and coupled with strange breathing techniques. In other words, he was torturing himself. It was at that time, at his weakest, when an "angel of light" appeared to him, and at times in the form of a snake. Does this sound familiar to anyone? He claimed these visits always made him feel euphoric, but afterward, when the apparition left him, he felt depressed and suicidal, well, that just doesn't sound like a righteous encounter to me. He even voiced his concern to his, Catholic wife, his concern being that he suspected these angelic visitations were demonic in nature, and not from God at all. Amazingly, he was right. However, here again we have a man who heeded the voice of his wife, which results in disaster. This woman told him to ignore those faithless feelings, and to continue in his so called, 'divine' meditations. Tisk, tisk, yet another prime example of a woman's misuse of her power of influence!
What happened after that? The apparition gave him the religion of Islam, which means 'submission', and if you will notice, it doesn't bear the name of Christ at all. As for his wife, she apparently converted to Islam from Catholicism. It is interesting to note that Satan often reveals himself as a snake, or a snake spirit, to his dupes, so apparently, he has fully and whole heartily embraced God's derogatory metaphor of him. Incidentally, the account of Jesus's physical temptation in the wilderness, was also visited by Satan after a long period of fasting. Satan was not in serpent disguise, he showed himself as he was, even so, Jesus was able to defeat Satan's temptations, only because he is God in the flesh, where as we regular issue humans are not expected to be as successful in that kind of endeavor. The only other human who was able to fast for extraordinary amounts of time besides Jesus, was Moses, who went an unheard of 80 days without food, or water. This is obviously a one time miracle God worked for a purpose - to bring the Children of Israel the Law of God, and was never repeated and was never demanded or expected by God to be emulated by subsequent believers, or wanna be prophets.
Paul admonishes us in Holy Scripture that if he, or any one else, or even if an angel preached another Jesus, then he was accursed. He even repeated it to emphasize the importance of that fact , so it was and still is, that serious. He also told us that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and so can his minions and false teachers, so why should we marvel at these facts? We have been warned several times of Satan's devices, yet these warnings stubbornly go unheeded by the masses of unwitting sheep and their hireling shepherds. Why? Because many people love the idea of being their own god. Even in Paul's day, he had a tremendous problem with false teachings springing up at every turn, false teachings that mixed and mingled idolatrous notions and philosophies with Christ's pure teachings and that was only a few decades after Jesus' ascension! So, we Christians need to wake up and take heed to the warnings we have been given in Scripture.
How about Islam? Muhammad [or Mohammad] was in a cave meditating in an altered state of consciousness that was induced after days and days of sleeplessness and fasting, and coupled with strange breathing techniques. In other words, he was torturing himself. It was at that time, at his weakest, when an "angel of light" appeared to him, and at times in the form of a snake. Does this sound familiar to anyone? He claimed these visits always made him feel euphoric, but afterward, when the apparition left him, he felt depressed and suicidal, well, that just doesn't sound like a righteous encounter to me. He even voiced his concern to his, Catholic wife, his concern being that he suspected these angelic visitations were demonic in nature, and not from God at all. Amazingly, he was right. However, here again we have a man who heeded the voice of his wife, which results in disaster. This woman told him to ignore those faithless feelings, and to continue in his so called, 'divine' meditations. Tisk, tisk, yet another prime example of a woman's misuse of her power of influence!
What happened after that? The apparition gave him the religion of Islam, which means 'submission', and if you will notice, it doesn't bear the name of Christ at all. As for his wife, she apparently converted to Islam from Catholicism. It is interesting to note that Satan often reveals himself as a snake, or a snake spirit, to his dupes, so apparently, he has fully and whole heartily embraced God's derogatory metaphor of him. Incidentally, the account of Jesus's physical temptation in the wilderness, was also visited by Satan after a long period of fasting. Satan was not in serpent disguise, he showed himself as he was, even so, Jesus was able to defeat Satan's temptations, only because he is God in the flesh, where as we regular issue humans are not expected to be as successful in that kind of endeavor. The only other human who was able to fast for extraordinary amounts of time besides Jesus, was Moses, who went an unheard of 80 days without food, or water. This is obviously a one time miracle God worked for a purpose - to bring the Children of Israel the Law of God, and was never repeated and was never demanded or expected by God to be emulated by subsequent believers, or wanna be prophets.
Paul admonishes us in Holy Scripture that if he, or any one else, or even if an angel preached another Jesus, then he was accursed. He even repeated it to emphasize the importance of that fact , so it was and still is, that serious. He also told us that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and so can his minions and false teachers, so why should we marvel at these facts? We have been warned several times of Satan's devices, yet these warnings stubbornly go unheeded by the masses of unwitting sheep and their hireling shepherds. Why? Because many people love the idea of being their own god. Even in Paul's day, he had a tremendous problem with false teachings springing up at every turn, false teachings that mixed and mingled idolatrous notions and philosophies with Christ's pure teachings and that was only a few decades after Jesus' ascension! So, we Christians need to wake up and take heed to the warnings we have been given in Scripture.
Looks Can Be Deceiving
Take a look at these two pictures. Which one would you choose as being the most inviting and alluring? Would you want to eat what the slob cook on the left has prepared, or would you rather have a cake from a local bakery that displays the sweet looking logo on the right? Obviously the cake, right?Well, what if I told you all of her beauteous cake creations contain an ingredient that is to die for? --arsenic! With that knowledge, which person is MORE evil: the slob cook, or the lovely baker?
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The lovely baker is. Why? Because anyone with half a brain would never eat what was put in front of them by the dirty looking cook, but the poisoned cake and pretty baker are deceptively inviting. This is the most sinister type of evil, evil that is hidden behind a mask of goodness and beauty. Why? Because this is false advertising; you are being tricked by what you see, because you are taking something only at face value. This is the sort of thing most people do not consider when they are listening to someone who claims to be a minister of God. All they hear are sweet words that come from the well groomed preacher they see in front of them, but instead of carefully inspecting the fruit that is being sold to them, they swallow it hook line and sinker. But God is not like us, he is not fooled by exterior beauty, nor by a lot of fancy talk. He looks at the inner heart of a man, and measures what he has to say by reasoning with him, because this process reveals what a person is really about, and he wants us to do the same.
Do You Have A "Little" God Complex?
The God Complex, whether small or great, is a state of mind in which a person [who are really piles of dirt] believes that they have supernatural powers, or god-like abilities, and whom also believe that they are above and not subject to the rules of the society in which they live. What kind of people are the most susceptible to this dangerous ideology? Everyone is, but usually creative people, intellectuals, power hungry people, and especially psychopaths are the most susceptible to this delusional ideology. By the way the clinical definition of a psychopath is a rather broad one, and not always what we typically suppose as being a knife wielding maniac. Basically, it entails a person who has no ability to empathize with others, and desires to control others by using manipulation, intimidation and fear tactics, all of which are mixed with a pinch of charisma. Many psychopaths are actually likable bullies. As for the categories for the susceptible, I fall into the "creative" slot - -I will leave you to decide which category you fall into.
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Yes, that's right dear reader, I am very susceptible to the "God Complex." This is how I was easily sucked into the Word of Faith heresy, because it caters to those who are God complex oriented. The Word of faith movement is fertile ground to grow the seeds tainted with the God Complex. This mongrel breed of sheep, or pelt clad wolves are hypocritical, double minded, and forked tongued in that they teach you that you are supposed to be humble, but then they do a 180 and make claims you are also a little "g" or god. To sugar coat their deception, they state the obvious, that you are not the Big "G", but only a little "g." This is rank paganism, or even humanism really. Have you every heard the song by Mac Davis: 'Oh Lord it's hard to be humble?' Well if you haven't, then I urge you to look it up, and then I think you will understand why it is, or should be, the God Complex anthem. There are several good remedies available to counteract the mild to sever cases of the God Complex, and I will list only a few of them here for you right now.
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Remedy number 1: Read Job chapters 38-41.
Doing this makes me feel very small every time. After I blow my nose and wipe my eyes, it is hard to see myself as a "little god" when I put myself in Job's position as the Almighty demands that Job answer a few of his probing questions about his creation.
Remedy number 2: Observe nature.
Go to the ocean and stand on the beach containing innumerable grains of sand, where you can see its massive size and feel its powerful waves and hear its crashing roar. I always feel very small when I do that. Or walk under the massive canopy of the Redwoods, or camp in the wilderness far from the city lights, and stand under the inky night sky which hosts billions upon billions of twinkling stars. Or witness the birth of an animal, or human baby if you can stomach it, this is also a very beautiful and humbling experience.
Remedy number 3: Help others.
God complex sufferers have a tendency to be self absorbed, and so, hopefully by getting involved in charity work, a person under
this delusion might gain a much needed appreciation of other people's needs, in other words: they need to understand that this life is not all about them.
Remedy number 4: Heed the words of Jesus.
Jesus taught his disciples and us, that we are not to think more highly of our selves than of others, but we are to esteem others as better than our selves. He taught that we are to deny our selves, and to die daily to our selves. Do you get the feeling that Jesus wouldn't cut it as a self-help guru, or life coach in this era?
Some of these cures are easier to administer and to receive than others, but they all can help alleviate or even cure the God Complex in one way or another.
Doing this makes me feel very small every time. After I blow my nose and wipe my eyes, it is hard to see myself as a "little god" when I put myself in Job's position as the Almighty demands that Job answer a few of his probing questions about his creation.
Remedy number 2: Observe nature.
Go to the ocean and stand on the beach containing innumerable grains of sand, where you can see its massive size and feel its powerful waves and hear its crashing roar. I always feel very small when I do that. Or walk under the massive canopy of the Redwoods, or camp in the wilderness far from the city lights, and stand under the inky night sky which hosts billions upon billions of twinkling stars. Or witness the birth of an animal, or human baby if you can stomach it, this is also a very beautiful and humbling experience.
Remedy number 3: Help others.
God complex sufferers have a tendency to be self absorbed, and so, hopefully by getting involved in charity work, a person under
this delusion might gain a much needed appreciation of other people's needs, in other words: they need to understand that this life is not all about them.
Remedy number 4: Heed the words of Jesus.
Jesus taught his disciples and us, that we are not to think more highly of our selves than of others, but we are to esteem others as better than our selves. He taught that we are to deny our selves, and to die daily to our selves. Do you get the feeling that Jesus wouldn't cut it as a self-help guru, or life coach in this era?
Some of these cures are easier to administer and to receive than others, but they all can help alleviate or even cure the God Complex in one way or another.
Does The God Complex Become Terminal?
Yes, as with many illnesses, there are some forms that are terminal, or incurable. Such is the case with the illness known as: the "little" God Complex. When left untreated, this illness can become terminal, not only to the soul and spirit of a man, but for some, it can even lead to their physical death as well. Why? Because some terminally ill God Complexers can have a tendency to take unreasonable risks with their physical person, something Jesus defined as "tempting God", when Satan suggested that Jesus hurl himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Who are the poor souls that possess the lethal form of the disease within their soul and spirit? Any and all of those who deny the Jesus of the Bible, as being God and Lord of all. That includes Atheists, New Agers, Pagans, Satanists, and members of all false religions, even those that fly false "Christian" flags. Of course, The Word of Faith, is counted among these. How can I say that, since the people within this movement are considered by many as "Christians?" Are you sure they are? They may be sincere in their devotion to God with their lips, but they are sincerely deceived and are worshiping not the Jesus of the Bible, as they suppose, but a Jesus not preached by Paul and the other disciples. Even Paul said of the Jews in his day that they had a sincere reverence for God, but they were ignorant of him. That is not a good thing. I will give you dear reader, examples of what I mean regarding the Jesus of the Bible, as opposed to the Jesus they preach. Carefully read about the Church of Laodicea in Revelation, it is a perfect description of the Word of Faith ideology.
Other "Little God" Liars
We have a saying,"Birds of a feather flock together." That means people with similar beliefs, ideologies, and philosophies, form themselves into groups. From observable nature, we also find that wolves run in packs. This is true for all of the "little god" teachers; they say and teach the same things, maybe in different ways, but the basic premise is the same. From Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God to New Age actress Shirley MacLaine, these people all claim, we humans are little gods. That makes them of the same ilk, or dirty birds of like feathers. But no one tells this lie with more gusto than head rooster, Kenneth Copeland, and his Word of Faith flock. What is his Scriptural basis for this amazing claim, that he is a little god? I will list just a few of his supposed Scriptural claims he says, gives him his little "g" status.
God Is In A Class All By Himself
One of Kenneth Copeland's favorite false teachings is that God created humans to be in what he calls: "The God Class." Really? The God Class, huh? Where exactly is that found in Scripture? To be honest, I've looked from cover to cover for this phrase verbatim, or even its definition, but it isn't there. Even so, Kenneth Copeland and his clucks make a good case for this false teaching, as they take you on a whirlwind tour through Scripture using eisegesis and a lot of vain human reasoning, and forked tongue double talk, to make it so. An example of Word of Faith's vain and flawed human reasoning is that if dogs beget puppies, cats beget kittens, and horses beget ponies, then God begets humans as little gods. This sounds logical at first, but what he and the other clucks conveniently forget to tell you is that Scripture states that we are heirs through adoption, whereas Jesus alone is the only begotten son of God. Adopted children are not from the body of their adoptive parents. To over come this Biblical limitation, the Word of Faith flock claim that in Hebrew culture, an adopted child is considered as an actual birth child. This ideology still is just that, an ideology. The cold hard facts remain: an adoptive child doesn't have their adoptive parents DNA.
Kenneth Copeland and his minions also use the Hebrew word "elohim", a broad word used for God, false gods, angels, and judges, to apply to their supposed godhood status. However, when one honestly reads Scripture from God's point of view, using proper exegesis, that is when one gets the clear and true picture, that we human beings were created lower than even the angels. Psalm 8:5 says as much, and even our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, demoted himself while he was on earth to the status of a mere human being [Heb. 2:7]- a position that is a little lower than the angels. A little lower means just below, not equal to, or not at the same level. So even if there is a "God class" of being, which there isn't, then it would be the angels who are in that class, not us. Because the word 'elohim' is so broad, that one must carefully read passages in context to get the proper definition of the word when it is used. After Genesis 4:26, that is when God had to be specific with his names and titles to distinguish himself from false gods, or fallen angels that were beginning to be worshiped as "gods", in the antediluvian world. As for judges, that will be detailed a little later on. God explicitly tells us that he is the only God there is, he knows of no other, and so, he is clearly in a class all his own. How clear can one get?
Kenneth Copeland and the Word of Faith Bunch stubbornly continue to insist that because we Christians are "co-rulers" with Christ, or "joint-heirs", then that means we are "little" gods. They further grasp at godhood by usurping God's power of bringing things that are not, into reality, for themselves. Because according to the "alpha" wolf, Kenneth Copeland, humans can speak things into existence like the Almighty does. But when you read Romans 4:17 in context, then we see it is God, and no other, who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not, as though they were. Sure, we can create things, but our creativity is limited to our vain imaginings, and we cannot raise the dead on our own power. After all, Frankenstein is fiction, not reality, that is why Ted Williams (who had his body cryovaced) is still very much dead. We can only create with what has already been created; we simply can't think up something that is truly unique, and we can't make something from literal nothing. Everything you or I think of to create will be a part of something that already exists or is known to someone somewhere. In short, we are not divine beings, not even close.
Kenneth Copeland and his minions also use the Hebrew word "elohim", a broad word used for God, false gods, angels, and judges, to apply to their supposed godhood status. However, when one honestly reads Scripture from God's point of view, using proper exegesis, that is when one gets the clear and true picture, that we human beings were created lower than even the angels. Psalm 8:5 says as much, and even our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, demoted himself while he was on earth to the status of a mere human being [Heb. 2:7]- a position that is a little lower than the angels. A little lower means just below, not equal to, or not at the same level. So even if there is a "God class" of being, which there isn't, then it would be the angels who are in that class, not us. Because the word 'elohim' is so broad, that one must carefully read passages in context to get the proper definition of the word when it is used. After Genesis 4:26, that is when God had to be specific with his names and titles to distinguish himself from false gods, or fallen angels that were beginning to be worshiped as "gods", in the antediluvian world. As for judges, that will be detailed a little later on. God explicitly tells us that he is the only God there is, he knows of no other, and so, he is clearly in a class all his own. How clear can one get?
Kenneth Copeland and the Word of Faith Bunch stubbornly continue to insist that because we Christians are "co-rulers" with Christ, or "joint-heirs", then that means we are "little" gods. They further grasp at godhood by usurping God's power of bringing things that are not, into reality, for themselves. Because according to the "alpha" wolf, Kenneth Copeland, humans can speak things into existence like the Almighty does. But when you read Romans 4:17 in context, then we see it is God, and no other, who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not, as though they were. Sure, we can create things, but our creativity is limited to our vain imaginings, and we cannot raise the dead on our own power. After all, Frankenstein is fiction, not reality, that is why Ted Williams (who had his body cryovaced) is still very much dead. We can only create with what has already been created; we simply can't think up something that is truly unique, and we can't make something from literal nothing. Everything you or I think of to create will be a part of something that already exists or is known to someone somewhere. In short, we are not divine beings, not even close.
The Lie Lives On
Truly, since Satan sold that lie in the garden of Eden, mankind has continued the vain endeavor to elevate itself into godhood status , and mankind won't stop trying to do so, until Jesus' righteous angels have thrown the very last soul, who thinks they are a "little god", into the lake of fire. Kenneth Copeland usurps far too much of Jesus' authority for himself and his blind followers. Christians do indeed have a measure of Jesus' authority on this earth, but we don't have Jesus' divine status, and to teach that we do is blasphemy. The authority Jesus gave his followers is laid out in the gospels, and any attempt to go beyond Jesus' prescribed limits on that authority is the sin of presumption - so don't go there I beg you. Jesus is unique in that he is both God and man, but he isn't a demi-god, or half god and half man. He is the only begotten Son of God. Unique means that something is the only one of its kind! However, Word of Faith gurus like Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and most notably Paula White[lie] and Larry Huck[ster], try to tell you that Jesus is not the only begotten Son of God, but that all Christians are begotten sons of God. With their own mouths they have twisted the words of Scripture and denied the one and true Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Or as Paul puts it: they have a form of godliness, but deny its power.
Yes, in one lying claim, they have both demoted Jesus, and elevated themselves. They are like their father the Devil, who was the first created being to sell this lie to humanity, and like silly dupes, many of us, still fall for it! And because of that, Satan has no need to reinvent the wheel, because the same lie that men can achieve godhood through secret forbidden knowledge, still works perfectly, even after thousands of years! In fact, it still works even after God warns us of this lie through Moses' pen, in Genesis 3. Kenny Copeland reveals this fact when he retells a supposed conversation he had with "the Spirit of God" regarding the redemption of mankind. Here is the quote:
'The spirit of God spoke to me and He said, ”Son, realize this. Now follow me in this
and don’t let tradition trip you up.” He said, ”Think this way—a twice born man
whipped Satan in his own domain.” And I threw my Bible down and I said, ”What?”
He said, ”A born again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren
defeated him.” He said, ”You are the very image, the very copy of that one.”
I said,”Goodness, gracious sakes alive!” And I begin to see what had gone on in there,
and I said,”Well now you don’t mean, you dare not mean, that I could
have done the same thing?” He said, ”Oh yeah, if you’d had the knowledge of
the Word of God that he did, you could’ve done the same thing, cause you’re a
reborn man too.” '
- (Kenneth Copeland, ”Substitution and identification", tape#00-0202, side 2)
There are so many things wrong with this dialog from a Scriptural point of view, that I hardly know where to start. Well, let's take it line by line I guess. First of all, there is nothing wrong with tradition, in the sense of Scriptural and godly behavior, as long as they are in fact, Scriptural and godly. Paul himself encourages his readers to follow the godly traditions he gave them in 2 Thes. 2:15 and 3:6. However, if you are following man made traditions, like those of Judaism[Gal. 1:14, Col. 2:8], then you are in a world of hurt. And if you are in the habit of listening to false spirits, like Kenneth Copeland is, then you too will throw down your Bible, instead of opening it up to search and see if what you heard is so.
As for "the spirit of God" claiming that Jesus is a twice born man - Kenneth Copeland is implying that God is saying that Jesus died spiritually on the cross; apparently Jesus' physical death was not enough to redeem mankind from sin. This goes against every line of the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21! In reality, Jesus never sinned, not once, if he had, then his sacrifice would have been deemed unacceptable by God's standards, which are laid out for us in Leviticus. So to say that Jesus became literal sin on the cross, or took on Satan's nature, which is what Kenny C. teaches, is outright blasphemy and shows a stunning lack of Scriptural knowledge on "The Cope's" part. The very knowledge that he claims he has, makes him a liar like his father, Satan.
Jesus' first born status is one of being preeminent, or as having an exalted position of being a conqueror, not that of being the first born-again sinner. Also worthy of note, in 2 Cor. 5:21, Paul is not stating that Jesus became literal sin, but rather he used mytonomy. Mytonomy is a figure of speech in which one word, or phrase is substituted for another in which it is closely associated. For example, we use the word "Washington" to mean our government. In the O.T. it was understood that the word used for sin offering, chatta't, was not only the sin, offense, or misdeed itself, but it was also used to describe the punishment, or offering for sin. This is obviously what Paul is referring to, not what Kenneth Copeland and Co. claim, that Jesus was literally made the incarnation of sin, but rather that Jesus bore the world's sin as the perfect and spotless sin offering, as the sinless lamb of God.
As for Hell [lake of fire] being Satan's domain, this is another gross error, an error we get from Dante's Inferno, not Scripture. Satan and his angels, and all sinners are destined to go to Hell [the lake of fire] after the final judgement, meaning they aren't there now. Satan doesn't want to go to an eternal place of burning torment, anymore than the worst sinner does. He roams the earth and rules in the lower heavens, he does not currently have a throne set up in hell.
Kenneth Copeland also betrays his involvement in Freemasonry within his vainly imagined dialog, where the pseudo spirit of God claimed that Kenneth would have been able to die for the sins of the world, if he had the knowledge of God's word that Jesus had. Freemasons worship knowledge and seek knowledge to obtain godhood, or enlightenment. Since Jesus died on the cross before the rest of Scripture was penned, that means Kenneth Copeland clearly must be referencing the knowledge of O.T. scripture, rather than the whole Bible as we know it. The Bible, and more specifically, the O.T., is clear in its teachings that only the blood of a spotless animal (or in this case, Jesus, the Son of God) can redeem men back to God, not the knowledge of Scripture. This is made clear, or at least should be made clear, in the Levitical sacrificial system. Do sheep, goats, bulls, and oxen have superior knowledge of God's word? If not, then why were they acceptable sacrifices to atone for sin, at that time, if biblical knowledge was to be the basis for being an acceptable sacrifice? Animal sacrifice aside, if this outrageous "knowledge" claim were true, then any O.T. prophet could have died for the sins of humanity long before Jesus did, especially Malachi, since he was the last O.T. prophet to pen Scripture. But none of them were able to die for our sins, because they were all sinners, no human being, no matter how much Scripture they know, is capable of being an acceptable sinless sacrifice for sin, and that is why human sacrifice is an abomination to God.
It is clear to me, and hopefully to you by now, that this man, Kenneth Copeland, is not reborn into Christ, but into Freemasonry. Therefore he is wrong, dead wrong, when he claims that he himself is a twice born man; he is in reality, a twice dead man according to Jude verse 12. Again, he implies in the last line of his made up dialog that Jesus is a twice born man, or a sinner, since sinners have to be re-born or "twice" born. This blasphemous lie also goes by the label of The Ransom Theory of salvation, which states that Jesus' physical death wasn't enough to pay for mankind's sins, so Jesus had to literally become sin, and die spiritually, and then be reborn in Hell. This is a heinous false teaching, and comes to us via E.W. Kenyon, who developed this false teaching from of the metaphysical teachings of mind over matter, and truth is relative gurus -- not Scripture!
Yes, in one lying claim, they have both demoted Jesus, and elevated themselves. They are like their father the Devil, who was the first created being to sell this lie to humanity, and like silly dupes, many of us, still fall for it! And because of that, Satan has no need to reinvent the wheel, because the same lie that men can achieve godhood through secret forbidden knowledge, still works perfectly, even after thousands of years! In fact, it still works even after God warns us of this lie through Moses' pen, in Genesis 3. Kenny Copeland reveals this fact when he retells a supposed conversation he had with "the Spirit of God" regarding the redemption of mankind. Here is the quote:
'The spirit of God spoke to me and He said, ”Son, realize this. Now follow me in this
and don’t let tradition trip you up.” He said, ”Think this way—a twice born man
whipped Satan in his own domain.” And I threw my Bible down and I said, ”What?”
He said, ”A born again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren
defeated him.” He said, ”You are the very image, the very copy of that one.”
I said,”Goodness, gracious sakes alive!” And I begin to see what had gone on in there,
and I said,”Well now you don’t mean, you dare not mean, that I could
have done the same thing?” He said, ”Oh yeah, if you’d had the knowledge of
the Word of God that he did, you could’ve done the same thing, cause you’re a
reborn man too.” '
- (Kenneth Copeland, ”Substitution and identification", tape#00-0202, side 2)
There are so many things wrong with this dialog from a Scriptural point of view, that I hardly know where to start. Well, let's take it line by line I guess. First of all, there is nothing wrong with tradition, in the sense of Scriptural and godly behavior, as long as they are in fact, Scriptural and godly. Paul himself encourages his readers to follow the godly traditions he gave them in 2 Thes. 2:15 and 3:6. However, if you are following man made traditions, like those of Judaism[Gal. 1:14, Col. 2:8], then you are in a world of hurt. And if you are in the habit of listening to false spirits, like Kenneth Copeland is, then you too will throw down your Bible, instead of opening it up to search and see if what you heard is so.
As for "the spirit of God" claiming that Jesus is a twice born man - Kenneth Copeland is implying that God is saying that Jesus died spiritually on the cross; apparently Jesus' physical death was not enough to redeem mankind from sin. This goes against every line of the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21! In reality, Jesus never sinned, not once, if he had, then his sacrifice would have been deemed unacceptable by God's standards, which are laid out for us in Leviticus. So to say that Jesus became literal sin on the cross, or took on Satan's nature, which is what Kenny C. teaches, is outright blasphemy and shows a stunning lack of Scriptural knowledge on "The Cope's" part. The very knowledge that he claims he has, makes him a liar like his father, Satan.
Jesus' first born status is one of being preeminent, or as having an exalted position of being a conqueror, not that of being the first born-again sinner. Also worthy of note, in 2 Cor. 5:21, Paul is not stating that Jesus became literal sin, but rather he used mytonomy. Mytonomy is a figure of speech in which one word, or phrase is substituted for another in which it is closely associated. For example, we use the word "Washington" to mean our government. In the O.T. it was understood that the word used for sin offering, chatta't, was not only the sin, offense, or misdeed itself, but it was also used to describe the punishment, or offering for sin. This is obviously what Paul is referring to, not what Kenneth Copeland and Co. claim, that Jesus was literally made the incarnation of sin, but rather that Jesus bore the world's sin as the perfect and spotless sin offering, as the sinless lamb of God.
As for Hell [lake of fire] being Satan's domain, this is another gross error, an error we get from Dante's Inferno, not Scripture. Satan and his angels, and all sinners are destined to go to Hell [the lake of fire] after the final judgement, meaning they aren't there now. Satan doesn't want to go to an eternal place of burning torment, anymore than the worst sinner does. He roams the earth and rules in the lower heavens, he does not currently have a throne set up in hell.
Kenneth Copeland also betrays his involvement in Freemasonry within his vainly imagined dialog, where the pseudo spirit of God claimed that Kenneth would have been able to die for the sins of the world, if he had the knowledge of God's word that Jesus had. Freemasons worship knowledge and seek knowledge to obtain godhood, or enlightenment. Since Jesus died on the cross before the rest of Scripture was penned, that means Kenneth Copeland clearly must be referencing the knowledge of O.T. scripture, rather than the whole Bible as we know it. The Bible, and more specifically, the O.T., is clear in its teachings that only the blood of a spotless animal (or in this case, Jesus, the Son of God) can redeem men back to God, not the knowledge of Scripture. This is made clear, or at least should be made clear, in the Levitical sacrificial system. Do sheep, goats, bulls, and oxen have superior knowledge of God's word? If not, then why were they acceptable sacrifices to atone for sin, at that time, if biblical knowledge was to be the basis for being an acceptable sacrifice? Animal sacrifice aside, if this outrageous "knowledge" claim were true, then any O.T. prophet could have died for the sins of humanity long before Jesus did, especially Malachi, since he was the last O.T. prophet to pen Scripture. But none of them were able to die for our sins, because they were all sinners, no human being, no matter how much Scripture they know, is capable of being an acceptable sinless sacrifice for sin, and that is why human sacrifice is an abomination to God.
It is clear to me, and hopefully to you by now, that this man, Kenneth Copeland, is not reborn into Christ, but into Freemasonry. Therefore he is wrong, dead wrong, when he claims that he himself is a twice born man; he is in reality, a twice dead man according to Jude verse 12. Again, he implies in the last line of his made up dialog that Jesus is a twice born man, or a sinner, since sinners have to be re-born or "twice" born. This blasphemous lie also goes by the label of The Ransom Theory of salvation, which states that Jesus' physical death wasn't enough to pay for mankind's sins, so Jesus had to literally become sin, and die spiritually, and then be reborn in Hell. This is a heinous false teaching, and comes to us via E.W. Kenyon, who developed this false teaching from of the metaphysical teachings of mind over matter, and truth is relative gurus -- not Scripture!
What About Psalm 82 & John 10?
In my study Bible, the title above this Psalm reads: A Plea for Justice; it does NOT read: Godhood for humanity. In that verse, we read that God stands in the congregation of the mighty; that he judges among the gods [elohim]. Admittedly, this verse provides a wonderful opportunity for usurpers to grasp at godhood. God does indeed state that the judges he appointed to rule over the Children of Israel were given the title of "elohim", not because they in themselves are divine in nature, but because God had bestowed them with His divine authority of deciding someones fate, whether they will lived, or died under the law. In this Psalm, God also clearly states the way in which they were to rule, they were to defend the poor and orphan, to deliver the afflicted and needy from the hand of the wicked. But instead, they showed partiality to the wicked by judging unjustly. God says that they walked in darkness, and they didn't understand their duty, so all the foundations of the earth [common good of societies] are unstable, or are moved, do to their lack of performing the righteous duties of their assigned role. Their status as children of the Most High, and of being "gods" was limited by their mortality, God makes it clear in that verse that they would die like men. Also worthy of note, is in the belief of godhood in the Canaanite culture, which surrounded the Israelis, and undoubtedly influenced them to do evil of this kind. The heads of Canaanite clans, tribes, or city-kings were highly venerated by following generations and often received the title of "gods." Knowing this, surly this Psalm is also aimed at vindicating God against this idolatrous practice. So why does Jesus refer to this Psalm in his defense of being accused of claiming his son-ship to God in John 10? There are many good reasons why he did so, let's see what they are.
Jesus' Defense
Little gods are no gods at all.
So the answer to my question, "Little gods, really?", is "No!" No, we are not "little gods." The teaching of "you are little gods" is a false teaching that came straight from Satan's lying mouth at the Garden of Eden, and has been whispered throughout the millenia, by his false teachers, even until this very day. So this further incriminates the Word of Faith sect as propagators of a false Christ, and a false heretical system of teaching. You can accept this fact, or you can reject it. If you embrace the false ideology that you are a "little god", then you are guilty of Adam and Eve's sin, and you will surely die. But don't just take my word for it, humbly seek the Lord and his word for the absolute truth, and be ready to accept his teaching. I pray those who have ears will hear and those who have eyes to see will see and take heed. Amen!
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