The Father
"Father." The term "Father" when speaking of God the Father is simply a title. God the Father has a name. In the Hebrew of the Old Testament He is called יהוה (transliterated as YHWH and commonly read as Yahweh). It is the most common name for God in the Hebrew Bible, occurring 6,828 times in the Masoretic Text. The New Testament most often uses the Greek term ho theos (or "the God") when referring to God the Father. Jesus addressed Yahweh as "Father" or "my Father" and this should be Christians preferred way of addressing Him (cf. Matthew 6:9; Romans 8:14-15). See The Divine Names for further study.
Vocabulary
- Elohim. The Hebrew word for "God" is Elohim.
- omnipresence.
- omniscience. The state of knowing everything. [Needs further study.]
- The Divine Names. The Father and the Son have real names, while the Holy Spirit does not.
- The Shema. The Shema is an affirmation of God's singularity and kingship and is the centerpiece of Jewish daily prayer. It is regarded by traditionally observant Jews as a biblical commandment
Key concepts
One God (Hebrew: Elohim), the Father. The singularity of God is the fundamental truth of the Bible. It is well supported in both the Old and New Testaments.
- Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God [[Hebrew: Elohim]], Yahweh is one [[Hebrew: echad]].
- Malachi 2:10: Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?
- 1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
- Ephesians 4:6: one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.
- 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
The Hebrew word for "God" is Elohim. It is a uniplural word, meaning that it can function as either singular or plural depending on the qualifiers (i.e. the accompanying verbs, adjectives, or pronouns). Whenever Elohim is associated with Yahweh (the Father's name), it is always qualified in the singular, with verbs, adjectives, or pronouns that have singular meaning.
True Father. The familial nature of God is not anthropomorphic; rather, the familial nature of the family is theomorphic. The human family is modeled after God's nature not the other way around. That is, the Father is actually a father, and He is the reality of what human fatherhood pictures. Jesus Christ is actually the Father's Son, our firstborn Elder Brother. The spiritually reborn and soon to be resurrected saints are actually sons of God. Moreover, we will live in an actual New Jerusalem in an actual New Heavens and a New Earth for eternity.
- Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.
God is not like man—man is like God. He is the form; we are the image. The Bible often describes God and man as having characteristics in common, it's because they originate with God. As they originate with God, they will ultimately be restored to God, meaning that the plan of Salvation, the ministry of Reconciliation, is ultimate Restoration—to be one with God, as one family. "God with us" in the New Heavens and the New Earth (see Revelation 21:1-3) is not a metaphor, it will be our reality.
Personhood. The Father is a real Person who sits on a real Throne. Here is how EGW described Him:
- 18LtMs, Lt 253, 1903, par. 12: “I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that He is a person. I asked Him if His Father was a person, and had a form like Himself. Said Jesus, ‘I am the express image of My Father’s person!’ [Hebrews 1:3.]
EGW's husband described him this way, "What is God? He is material, organized intelligence, possessing both body and parts" (PERGO 7.4).
Trinitarians use John 4:24 to support the idea that "God is a spirit" (KJV). However, the correct reading is "God is spirit." Pulpit Commentary: God is Spirit (Πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός; cf. John 1:1, Θεὸς η΅ν ὁ Λόγος—the article indicates the subject, and the predicate is here generic, and not an indefinite; therefore we do not render it, "God is a Spirit"). Also, Vincent's Word Studies: God is spirit. Spirit is the emphatic word; Spirit is God [literally in Greek]. The phrase describes the nature, not the personality of God. Compare the expressions, God is light; God is love (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8).
Source of all things. Whereas the Father is the ultimate source of all things, Jesus is the Father's agent. This is most clearly seen in both Creation and Salvation. Think in terms of constructing your dream house in a plot of land that you purchased. You hire a general contractor who in turn deals with various building trades. So, whereas you are the source (it's your idea, land, and money) of the house, these talented people are your construction agents to accomplish your desire.
Creator. Both the Old and New Testaments declare that Yahweh created the world. Yet the agent of Creation was His Son, as the New Testament reveals (Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:15-17).
- Isaiah 45:18: For Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am Yahweh. There is no other.
- Revelation 4:11: Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!
Savior. There is no savior apart from Yahweh. This is what the Old Testament declares.
- Isaiah 43:11: I myself am Yahweh, and apart from me there is no savior.
- Hosea 13:4: Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.
Yet the Old Testament tells us that Yahweh sent human "saviors" to the people of Israel.
- Nehemiah 9:27: Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
- Obadiah 1:21: Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
The ultimate savior the Father would send was fully revealed in the New Testament.
- John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
- 1 John 4:14: And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
- Acts 5:30-31: The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
- Acts 13:23: Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
This does not in any way diminish the role of the Son in the plan of salvation given that the Son did so willingly.
- Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Lawgiver. God Himself spoke and wrote the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are also referred to as "the testimony" (Exodus 25:16, 21; 31:18; 40:20; Leviticus 16:13).
- LHU 117.5: The Ten Commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written
by His own hand. They are of divine, and not of human composition.
But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language
of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union
existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son
of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that "the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
- RH,
May 6, 1875 par. 14: God graciously spoke his law and wrote it with his own finger
on stone, making a solemn covenant with his people at Sinai.
God acknowledged them as his peculiar treasure above all people upon
the earth. Christ, who went before Moses in the wilderness, made the
principles of morality and religion more clear by particular precepts,
specifying the duty of man to God and his fellow-men, for the purpose
of protecting life, and guarding the sacred law of God, that it should
not be entirely forgotten in the midst of an apostate world.
Father and Son on Mount Sinai. Both Father and Son were on Mount Sinai when the law was given. In the following quote (i.e. Signs of the Times) EGW says the Father spoke through his Son. It is not clear how that occurred, given that the above quotes say that the Father spoke. Whatever the case, it is noteworthy that both were there—not three but two Divine Beings.
- 4LtMs, Ms 3, 1885, par. 13: That there might be no mistake in the matter, the Father and the Son descended upon Mount Sinai, and there the precepts of His law were spoken in awful grandeur in the hearing of all Israel.
- ST October 15, 1896, par. 4, 5: When the law was spoken, the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, stood by the side of his Son, enshrouded in the fire and the smoke on the mount. It was not here that the law was first given; but it was proclaimed, that the children of Israel, whose ideas had become confused in their association with idolaters in Egypt, might be reminded of its terms, and understand what constitutes the true worship of Jehovah. [par. 5:] What condescension was this, that the infinite God should stand side by side with his Son, while the law, which is the foundation of his government, was given. He would give his people an intelligent knowledge of his will. He does not command men to obey him when they do not understand what he requires. Here was displayed his wisdom, power, and love. Man was so dear to the Creator of the world that he spoke to him through Jesus Christ, with an audible voice, giving unmistakable evidence of his presence and majesty.
God's law. God's law is a definition of His character. It is not a law that is "above Him" but a law that is "within Him." It is His nature and will. It is the standard to which the unchanging (i.e. immutable) God has bound Himself. God's law is summed up in love—love to God and love to man, which are the two greatest commandments. Given that God is sovereign—He rules over all—He judges according to His own standards of right which are embodied in His law.
Ancient of days. The phrase, "One that was the ancient of days" (Daniel 7:9), is a reference to the Father, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law.
- GC88 479.2:
Thus was presented to the prophet's vision the great and solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered “according to his works.” The Ancient of days is God the Father. Says the psalmist, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” [Psalm 90:2.] It is he, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the Judgment. And holy angels, as ministers and witnesses, in number “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,” attend this great tribunal.
First commandment. The first of the ten commandments says,
- Exodus 20:2-3: I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before [Or besides] me.
Only God the Father, called Yahweh in the Old Testament (or Jehovah, the Latinized version of Yahweh), is to be worshipped.
- PP 305.4: Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.
God's righteousness. God always acts in a way that is consistent with his own character. This is called God's righteousness or the righteousness of God. God is righteous in Himself, He demands righteousness, He provides righteousness, and He rewards for the righteousness He provides.
Forgiveness. God is righteous when He forgives sin. God is able to pass over our former sins in righteousness by the death of and faith in His Son (Romans 3:25-26). This means that God does not violate His Law in forgiving repentant sinners, but is righteous in doing so, because Jesus made it possible. Without the death of His Son, forgiveness of sins would not have been possible (Romans 5:17-18).
Freed from sin, slaves of righteousness. Righteous living is accomplished through God. That is, God offers righteous living, living that is in line with keeping His Law (Philippians 2:13; {1 Corinthians 4:7}). We are to seek God's righteousness (Matthew 6:33). We can become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Resurrection of Jesus. Did the Father raise Jesus from the dead, or was it the Son's own power?
Work-in-progress
The following are *all* ongoing and incomplete studies.
The attributes of each "personality" of God:
| |
Father |
Son |
Spirit |
| Past |
all-knowing - Forgiver |
Truth - (Teacher) |
Repentance |
| Future |
faithful - Predestination |
Way - (Prophet) |
Trust |
| Present |
slow to anger - Justice |
Life - (Exhortation) |
Responsibility |
| I-You |
steadfast
love - Law |
Love - (Master) |
Faith |
| I-I |
gracious
- Holiness |
Son - (of God, of Man) |
Re-birth (Baptism) - Service |
| I-you |
merciful
- Savior |
Blood - (Redeemer) |
Fellowship |
| I-it |
all
powerful - Creator |
Head - (by Him, for Him) |
Stewardship - freely give |
|
