Apology gladly accepted. Thank you.
And I agree...we
can't figure out God. That's why I do my best to accept what the Scriptures plainly say...even if it makes no sense to me at all (and this happens on more issues than the Trinity!) I just serve Him and thank Him for Himself, in all His oneness!
As to Jesus sinning...I don't think that! He is the spotless lamb of God! I was just trying to show that if one says Jesus is not God, an antichrist can then twist the scripture to show that Jesus was not perfect because He did not give God the recognition He truly deserved.
Your question: "How did Jesus not know?"
When reading the gospels one finds many times that Jesus is surprised by things, that He is "astounded" at someones faith, or, even, in the case of the hour of his final return, not knowing somthing and admitting it. The answer to this is actually rather childlike, and therefore, it is important to not think about it too deeply in order to understand it, but rather to accept it as so obvious that we, in our fallen state, wouldn't have even thought of it.
Before I answer it, though, let me ask another question (rhetorical...I really don't like debating either...tends to be argueing after a while
) : If Jesus is God, how did He feel pain? How did He cry? How come He had to eat? And most importantly, how did He die?????!!!
It is important to remember that the Bible, while calling Jesus God, never denies that He is also
fully man. He is 100% of two things. (Rationally this is not possible...but we must forsake ration in light of Truth) The humble and fabulously gracious act of becoming a man meant that, as God, Christ was limiting Himself
for a time for one reason alone:
to die for our sins, and in that, to experience absolute separation
from God, that means
from Himself...again something we cannot even comprehend, yet something which was essential and necessary for the payment of sin.
With that established, God, in becoming flesh and blood, limited Himself
so that he could achieve His eternal purpose in Christ (Eph3:11) which is indeed, as you have very correctly ascertained, love. (a love which even we Christians cannot fully and perfectly understand, nor live, but which we receive a foretase of as we approach Him in our lives because of His limiting Himself so that He could die
and conquer death!)
With that said, the fact that God limited Himself in regards to other issues is a moot point, each one open to speculation as to why, but each one obviously possible because the true limitation was simply in becoming a mortal creature.
So...Jesus did not know the hour of the end of the world because as God, He chose not to. We as humans surely can do no such thing as forget what we know on purpose, but
we must not limit God. He can do anything, even forget that which He knows
perfectly. Another example of this is the Father's promise to forgive our sins
and "remember" them "no more" (Jer 31:34)
Why would He do this? That is for Him to know, and us to find out in heaven when we will "know even as we are known." For now, it is only for us to serve Him and accept with gratitude the knowledge which He has already given us. To do any less is to call Him a liar, when it is every man who is a liar, and God who is True!
Peace to all who seek it,
<><
PS I thought you were a woman too...don't know why...just did...sorry...it is kind of funny
LOVE and God Bless
