What Did Stephen See?
Do You Believe The Martyr Stephen Was Cross-Eyed?
Do You Believe Stephen or Do You Believe In The Trinity?
At first notion that may seem to be a silly question to ask. But there is a good reason to ask it.
What was it that the disciple Stephen saw in Heaven?
The Bible in the Book of Acts chapter six, describes the man Stephen as, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit)…”. (KJV)
Stephen had a vision by means of Holy Spirit just before his death. After eloquently defending his faith in Jesus Christ before a mob who were about to take him out and stone him, this is the account of what he saw: Acts 7:55-60
55 “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep”. (KJV)
Stephen said that he saw the resurrected Jesus standing, “on the right hand (on the right side) of God”. Stephen saw two distinct personages. He saw Jesus and he saw that he stood next to God Almighty.
This does not square with those who teach and believe that Jesus Christ was God on Earth in flesh.
For that belief to be true then either Stephen had a vision of God standing next to Himself which is impossible, or….Stephen had to have been cross-eyed and suffered from double-vision.
He didn’t see just one, he saw two individuals.
At the time when Jesus was baptized by John the baptizer, a voice was heard out of Heaven, “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. Matthew 3:17 (KJV)
Do you believe that Jesus in some sort of trickery, pitch his voice in order to deceive those with him? Who then was it that spoke from Heaven if he were God on Earth?
Those who believe Jesus and God Almighty are one and the same person misinterpret John’s personal expressions found at John 1:1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. (KJV)
Keep in mind, the Book of John’s purpose is to provide a gospel account of what Jesus himself said and did. The words at John 1:1 are not the words of Jesus, but of John the writer. Jesus never said he was God. He identified himself as the Son of God.
John 10:36
“how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You’re blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’?”
The John who wrote what is recorded as the Book of John is the same John who wrote what is recorded in the Book of Revelation. In reading the Book of Revelation it is quite obvious the John did not believe Jesus was God Almighty.
How is Jesus ‘godly‘?
Jesus is unique from all other creation. He is divine in that he is “begotten” of God. This mean God took of himself and formed His son. As your offspring are of your flesh, Jesus is of the same of what God’s body consist of and shares in this way godliness.
Jesus states himself as John records, what his relationship to God Almighty is. In John chapter 14 verse 28 we read:
“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I“. (KJV)
Jesus clearly states that God the Father is greater than himself.
Also in the same Bible book of John chapter 6 verse 38, Jesus makes this statement regarding himself:
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me”. (KJV)
Who can send God Almighty anywhere? No one.
But God Almighty can send a lesser than himself to Earth and He did in sending His only begotten son.
Jesus further made it clear that he was not God come down to Earth when he said to his disciples:
John 16:27
“I left the Father and came into the world. Now I’m leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
Also note what occurred at the transfiguration scene found at Luke 9:34-35:
34 “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him”. (KJV)
If Christ were God in flesh, who was it that spoke from Heaven?
Paul said this about Almighty God,
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen”. 1 Timothy 1:17 (KJV)
God is and has always been immortal. Therefore, it is impossible for Him to die.
Yet we know the Jesus Christ did die and had to be resurrected. Ask yourself: By whom was Jesus resurrected?
The apostle Paul when writing to the Corinthians, tell the answer to this question:
1 Corinthians 15:12-17
12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15 Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
Paul stated that “we testified about God that he raised up Christ…”. Clearly, Jesus was mortal and his immortal Father resurrected him from death.
According to what is written at Romans Chapter 6 verses 8 and 9, it wasn’t until after Christ resurrection that he put on immortality.
Romans 6:8-9
8 Now if we have died with the Messiah, we believe that we will also live with him,
9 for we know that the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
Again, God is eternal having no beginning nor end. He is and has always been immortal.
However, Jesus was begotten by his Father a mortal being who came to Earth, lived a mortal human life, died, and was raised by God to an immortal life.
While the picture illustration that accompanies this article may seem a bit humorous, it should cause you to think quite seriously about the subject and what you have been taught.
What did Stephen see in his vision before he expired?
Do you believe Stephen who the Bible describes as being full of the Holy Spirit and what he saw?
Do you believe Jesus and the words from his own mouth identifying himself as lesser than God the Father? Do you believe God Almighty who twice identified Jesus as His son?
Or, will you stubbornly insist on believing the misinterpretation of John 1:1 while ignoring what the Bible clearly states concerning God the Father and Christ Jesus his son?
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