as is obvious from the following passages: “Those who eat my flesh and
drink my blood live in me and I in them”(John 6 : 56 ). “Live in me and I
[shall live] in you. Those who live in me and I in thembear much fruit”
(John 15 : 4 , 5 ). “If any open the door, I will come in and will dine with
them and they with me”(Revelation 3 : 20 ); and other passages as well. This
partnership comes about as we move closer to the Lord and the Lord
moves closer to us; for it is a fixed and unchangeable law that the closer we
move toward the Lord, the closer the Lord moves toward us. (For more on
this, see the chapters on goodwill and faith [§§ 336 – 462 ].)
7. Through this process God became human and a human became God 101
in one person.From all the previous sections in this chapter it follows that
Jehovah God became human and a human became God in one person. It
especially follows from two of those sections: “Jehovah, the Creator of the
universe, came down and took on a human manifestation in order to
redeem people and save them” (§§ 82 – 84 ); and “Through acts of redemp-
tion the Lord united himself to the Father and the Father united himself
to him mutually and reciprocally” (§§ 97 – 100 ). From the reciprocal nature
of that union it is obvious that God became human and a human became
God in one person. The same thing also follows from the fact that their
union was like the one between a soul and a body. This fits with the
modern-day church’s belief based on the Athanasian Creed (see § 98
above). It also fits with the Lutheran belief expressed in the section called
the Formula of Concord in the volumes containing the Lutheran ortho-
doxy. There it is strongly established from both Sacred Scripture and the
church fathers, as well as through argumentation, that Christ’s human
nature was raised to divine majesty, omnipotence, and omni presence;
and that in Christ, God is human and a human is God; see pages 607
and 765. That section also offers convincing proof that the Word refers to
Jehovah God’s human manifestation as “Jehovah,” “Jehovah God,” “Jeho-
vah Sabaoth,” and “the God of Israel.”
Paul says, “All the fullness of divinity dwells physically in Jesus Christ”
(Colossians 2 : 9 ). John says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the true
God and eternal life ( 1 John 5 : 20 ). We showed above (§§ 92 – 93 ) that the
phrase “the Son of God” properly refers to his human manifestation. For
another thing, Jehovah God calls both himself and his human aspect
“Lord.” We read, “The Lordsaid to my Lord,‘Sit at my right hand’”
(Psalms 110 : 1 ). In Isaiah we read, “A Child is born to us, a Son is given to
us, whose name is God, Father of Eternity”(Isaiah 9 : 6 ).
In David the word “Son” also refers to the Lord in his human mani-
festation: “I will announce a decision. Jehovah said, ‘You are my Son.
§101 the lord the redeemer & redemption 135