LET'S TALK ABOUT GOD

The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)


Introduction:

Jesus is not only the Son of God, but also God the Son.  Since no greater truth is affirmed in the Sacred Text, one cannot read the Bible (especially the New Testament) without recognizing the One who is God the Son (cf. Heb. 1:8).  This doctrine in fact permeates the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation; only a materialist would fail to see it.

III.  LET'S TALK ABOUT THE GODHEAD - 2

As we delve deeper into the Bible teaching on the Godhead (a term meaning the Divine Rule of God), please keep in mind the fact that man is unable to discover the nature of God by himself.  Man cannot discover God apart from Divine revelation; reason alone will not find the nature of God (cf. 1 Cor. 1:21). The Christian is not under obligation to explain all the mysteries connected with this doctrine.  One is only obligated to set forth the teachings of Scripture and be willing to follow such.  Did not the Psalmist say, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it”? (Psalm 139:6; cf. Isa. 55:9).
   
We have seen that THREE distinctions (Persons) can be observed in the Godhead.  We will now make several Scriptural arguments to prove this point.  Please open your Bibles and read each passage.  In Matthew 3:16-17, we have recorded the baptismal scene of Jesus.  On this occasion the three persons of the Godhead are easily noted.  Simultaneously there is the Son on earth coming up out of the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit descending from Heaven in a bodily form as a dove, and the Father in Heaven who speaks, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
   
The point being that the Son is NOT the Father; for the Father is the one who spoke from Heaven while Jesus was praying (cf. Matt. 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17-18; Luke 3:21-22).  But neither is the Holy Spirit the Father or the Son, for the Holy Spirit was descending while the Father was in Heaven speaking, and while the Son was on earth praying!  In later years the apostle Peter made reference to this event wherein he mentions the THREE members of the Godhead.  He said, “How GOD anointed JESUS of Nazareth with the HOLY SPIRIT and with power” (Acts 10:38).
   
While conversing with His apostles in regard to the sending and their receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16).  The promise of “another Comforter” (Gk. Paraklete) clearly implies that they already had one Comforter (Christ Himself - 1 John 2:1).  Thus, we see TWO distinct persons characterized by the term “Comforter” or “Advocate.”
   
All THREE persons of the Godhead are also seen in John 14:16.  All three are shown to have different functions.  Christ the Son acts the part of an intercessor when He says, “I will pray the Father.”  The Father acts the part of the donator because Jesus said of Him, “He shall give you another Comforter.”  The Holy Spirit would serve as a consolator and helper by abiding with them forever.  This passage shows conclusively that there are THREE distinct persons within the Godhead.
   
As our Lord contemplated leaving this world and returning to His Father in Heaven, He again mentions all three persons of the Godhead.  He said, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26).
   
The apostle Paul names seven items of which he says in each case there is ONE (Eph. 4:4-6). Among these he mentions one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father, which, when added together makes THREE.  None of the seven items mentioned are the same.  They are all different because there is ONE of each.  The one body is not the same as the one hope; the one faith is not the same as the one baptism; neither is the one Spirit the same as the one Lord, or the one Lord the same as the one Father.  The Father, the Lord (Son), and the Spirit all possess the One Divine nature, yet they are different or distinguishable as THREE personalities.
   
As we have already covered, the word “God” is a name of the Divine substance or quality of being.  Therefore, when the Bible says there is but one God, the meaning is that there is but ONE Divine nature.  All three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit, are called God.
   
Jesus and the apostle Peter referred to the Father as God (John 6:27; 2 Peter 1:17).  The Father refers to His Son as God (Heb. 1:8).  And why is the Son also called God?  Because He, too, possesses the attributes of deity that identify one as God.  Again, the Holy Spirit is called God.  In Acts 5:3-4, Peter made it clear that Ananias had lied to God by lying to the Holy Spirit.  All three persons are referred to as God (deity, divinity).  There is only ONE God - one Divine nature - but there are THREE persons possessing this unified set of infinite qualities.
   
Jesus is called a mediator by Paul.  The Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).  Jesus is the “mediator” between God and man.  He is literally a “go-between.”  It should be obvious to all that Christ could not be a mediator BETWEEN God and man if only one person or being makes up the totality of the Godhead.
   
While Jesus was on the earth, He did not know the time of His second coming (Mark 13:32).  The Father knew but the Son did not; thus, clearly showing that the Father and the Son are TWO distinct persons. Similarly, “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven Him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt. 12:32).  From this passage it is certain that Christ and the Holy Spirit are not identical in personality.
   
But neither is the Holy Spirit and the Father the same.  In John 14:26 we learn that the Father would SEND the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.  Thus, from many passages such as these it is clear that there are THREE persons in the Godhead and they are NOT the same.  Yet, all three are called God in the Bible because they all possess the same Divine nature.
   
A good question for us to pause right now and consider is, to whom was God speaking, in Genesis 1:26, when He said, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness?”  Was He just talking to Himself?  Were there no other persons to whom He could say, “Let US make man?”  If the theory is true that there is only one person in the Godhead, to whom could God have been speaking when He said, “Let US make man in OUR image?”
   
Loved ones, those of you who are HONEST will note carefully the plural pronouns that are here used in reference to God.  The plurality here cannot refer to angels as is sometimes falsely claimed.  You see, angels are themselves created by God (Neh. 9:6; Psa. 148:2-5); they are NOT creators.  Man is made in God’s image, NOT that of angels (Gen. 9:6).  The immediate context (Genesis 1:27) limits the creating to God.  Any implication that some other being had a hand in creation other than God is foreign to the Bible.
   
The plurality here, likewise, cannot refer to humans, for as yet, none had been created for God to speak to.  However, we know from other passages within the Bible that the conversation of Genesis 1:26 took place between the THREE persons of the Godhead.  God the Father is said to have been the creator of all things.  The apostles prayed, “Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is” (Acts 4:24; cf. Mark 10:6; James 1:17).  But was there someone “with” the Father “in the beginning” that He could speak to who was instrumental in the creation?
   
Hear the Bible answer: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14).
   
Yes, the One afterward called “Jesus” (who became flesh and dwelt among us) is the One here spoken of who was “with” God “in the beginning.” Please also notice from John 1:1-3 that the Word who became flesh was the Father’s active agent in the work of creation (cf. Col. 1:15-17).
   
Not only did the Father and the Son participate in the physical creation (where humans received their CREATED nature), but the second verse of the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit as also taking an active part in the creative work.  The Bible says, “In the beginning God created....And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2; cf. Psa. 104:30; Job 26:13; 33:4).
   
Thus, we have the THREE members of the Godhead, the Father, the Word (the Son), and the Holy Spirit, all involved in the creative work.  The plurality of Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8 would not and could not properly be used in reference to God if there were not a plural number comprising the Godhead.  It is obvious, then, to any HONEST obedient believer (Luke 8:15) that these passages refer to more than one person in the Godhead.
   
Loved ones, please notice how the Bible writers listed the members of the Godhead.  “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST” (Matt. 28:19).  “The grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the love of GOD, and the communion of the HOLY GHOST, be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. 13:14).  “Elect according to the foreknowledge of GOD THE FATHER, through sanctification of the SPIRIT, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of JESUS CHRIST” (1 Peter 1:2).
   
“...Praying in the HOLY GHOST, keep yourselves in the love of GOD, looking for the mercy of our LORD JESUS CHRIST unto eternal life” (Jude 20-21).  “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same SPIRIT.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same LORD.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same GOD which worketh all in all” (1 Cor. 12:4-6).


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