God the Father and God the Son
The topic we are going to address now is God the Father and God the Son. But before we get into that we need to have a brief recap of what we have already learned. We learned last time that God is one in essence and three in person. And that God is revealed throughout the Scriptures as a single being, existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We, also, learned that the Nicene Creed was written to combat both Arianism and Gnosticism, because they both denied the triune nature of God.
God the Father
I believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, visible and unvisible.—Nicene Creed
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.—Baptist Faith and Message 2000
What do these two independently written statements, that are separated by over a thousand years have to teach us about God the Father. They teach us three things about God the Father. God the Father is our creator, our provider, our savior.
God the Father is Our Creator
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them. Psalm 146:6
All three of these passages have one thing in common. And that one thing is that they all say explicitly and in no uncertain terms that God created everything that is in existence. And since we have already established that God exists as a single being, existing in three persons. And one of those persons is God the Father, which means that God the Father is our creator.
God the Father is Our Provider
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham! ”
“Here I am,” he answered.
“Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.
Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”
And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? ”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.
When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham! ”
He replied, “Here I am.”
Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain.” Genesis 22:1-14
This passage taken from Genesis is the first case of God providing. In fact it is where we get one of the many names for God that we find throughout the Bible. And that name is Yahweh-yireh or as you may know it Jehovah-jireh. Both of which mean the same thing, “the Lord provides”. Which is what Abraham named the mountain on which he was about to sacrifice Issac, because God did provide a sacrifice.
Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13
He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,
Father,
your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.
And do not bring us into temptation.”
He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? ” Luke 11:1-13
These two passages taken from the New Testament are Jesus’ teaching on the same thing that God showed Abraham. And that is that God will provide. In fact Jesus teaches us to pray God using the words “Our Father in heaven”. In fact Jesus went on to say much later in his ministry this: “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (John 16:23-24). All of this proves that God the Father is not only our creator, but is also our provider.
God the Father is Our Savior
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7
Since God is revealed as a single being who exists in three distinct persons, then what Jesus says here makes perfect sense. Which means that since Jesus, the one and only son of God, is the way, the truth and the life, then God the Father must be the way, the truth and the life. Why because God the Father and God the Son are equal. Not separate but equal, but united and equal.
The Perfect Picture of God the Father
And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36
You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father! ” Romans 8:15
And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father! ” Galatians 4:6
Abba (ʼΑββᾶ, 5) is an Aramaic word, found in Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6. In the Gemara (a Rabbinical commentary on the Mishna, the traditional teaching of the Jews) it is stated that slaves were forbidden to address the head of the family by this title. It approximates to a personal name, in contrast to “Father,” with which it is always joined in the NT. This is probably due to the fact that, abba having practically become a proper name, Greek-speaking Jews added the Greek word pater, “father,” from the language they used. Abba is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens unreasoning trust; “father” expresses an intelligent apprehension of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child.—Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary
The word “Abba” that is used in these passages is a very personal term used to address one’s father. The best way to translate it into English would “daddy”. A term that in most polite English societies is only used by small children, but connives a sense of intimacy and oneness that the word “father” does not. That is why Jesus cried out to his “daddy” and Paul tells us to cry out to our spiritual “daddy”. Because that is what God the Father is to you. Your physical “daddy” created you, provides for you and is the one that you turn to in your darkest hour. And spiritual “daddy” also created you, provides for you and should be the one that you turn to in your darkest hour. But to truly understand the Father you have to know the Son.
God the Son
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
The only begotten son of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one essence with the Father.
By whom all things were made
and without him was not anything in heaven
or Earth made.
he came down from heaven:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.
Was made man and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and from Holy Virgin Mary.
Became man, was crucified For our sake in the days of Pontius Pilate;
suffered, died,was buried
And he rose from the dead on the third day as written
in the holy Scriptures;
ascended in glory into heaven
sat at the right hand of his Father
and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead—Nicene Creed
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.—Baptist Faith and Message 2000
God the Son is Our Creator
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” Genesis 1:1 & 26
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities —
all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20
All three of these passages tell us the exact same thing. That Jesus, as God the Son, was present and took part in the creation of the universe. But the passage that we are really going to be focusing on is John 1:1-5. In that passage John uses the word “Word” three times. In Greek the word John uses here is “logos”. It is used 40 times in John’s gospel and 330 times in the New Testament. But what is John trying to say by starting his gospel in this manner? And to understand that we have to understand what “logos” really means.
Like the related verb lego (to speak), the noun logos most often refers to either oral or written communication. It means statement or report in some contexts, but must often in John’s Gospel (and in the New Testament in general) logos refers to God’s Word (that is, the Old Testament) or to Jesus’ words. Thus, the primary use of logos is to denote divine revelation in some form or another. John uses the term in its most exalted sense when he personifies logos to refer to Christ. The Logos eternally existed as God (the Son) and with God (the Father)—he was in fact the Creator (John 1:1-3)—but he became a human being (John 1:14), Jesus of Nazareth, so that he could reveal the Father and his will for humanity.
God the Son is Our Provider
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up? ”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses! ”
“Here I am,” he answered.
“Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:1-10
Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow! ”
Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! LORD, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.” Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.
Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the LORD returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. He entered a cave there and spent the night. 1 Kings 19:1-9
These are just two of the many passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament where we see a reference to “the angel of the LORD”. But who is “the angel of the LORD”? “The angel of the LORD” is a physical manifestation of God. He appears in human form, just as “angels”, but unlike “angels” the angel of the LORD exhibits all the characteristics of God. If “the angel of the LORD” is not an angel, then who is he? He is none other than a physical manifestation of God the Son. That is why “the angel of the LORD” always shows up whenever God’s people are in need. Because just as God the Father is our provider, God the Son is also our provider. And this is because God the Father and God the Son are equal.
God the Son is Our Savior
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” John 3:14-21
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities —
all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him — if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. Colossians 1:15-23
All of these verses tell us one thing. And that one thing is you are saved through the substitutionary death of Jesus. And in order for Jesus death on the cross to truly be substitutionary, then he had to be both fully God and fully man. Because if he was only a “good” man who died a horrific death, then that is all it was. And it has no significance what so ever. But because Jesus was and is both fully God and fully man, then he was the only perfect man to ever live. And it was because he was the only perfect man to ever live that made his death substitutionary. And we see a perfect picture of this in the instructions that God gives to the people of Israel concerning the first Passover.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire — its head as well as its legs and inner organs. You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn. Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the LORD’s Passover.
“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the LORD; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:1-13
Jesus as the only perfect man to ever live became your Passover lamb when he was crucified. It is only through the blood of Jesus (God the Son) that you are saved for the eternal separation that is the punishment for your sins. And all this is possible because Jesus, as God the Son, was fully God at the same time that he was fully man. Which means that God the Son and God the Father are equal. And if you still need further proof, then here is the most convincing proof there is. It comes from Joshua 5:13-15.
When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies? ”
“Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the LORD’s army.”
Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked him, “What does my lord want to say to his servant? ”
The commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did that.
Who is this commander of the ‘LORD’s army” that Joshua met outside Jericho. Was it an angel? No it wasn’t an angel. Then who was it. The clue to who it was comes when Joshua bows down and worshiped this “being” and is not stopped from doing it. This means that whoever the commander of “the LORD’s” army is was something worth worshiping. And since there is only thing worthy of our worship, then the commander of “the LORD’s” army has to be God. And since he appeared to Joshua in human form then he was appearing as God the Son. And we know that God the Son is the described as being the commander of Heaven’s army in Revelation 19:11-16:
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
You should need no further proof that God the Father and the God the Son are equal after seeing this perfect example of God the Son being equal with God the Father in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. And since God the Father and God the Son are equal, then God the Holy Spirit must the equal of God the Father and God the Son. And that is we will learn about next, God the Holy Spirit.