THE
GODHEAD
In this teaching we will discuss the much misunderstood doctrine of the
Godhead. Just who are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? What is their
relationship to each other and to mankind? Are they actually separate and
distinct personalities? These are some of the questions that I will answer in
this teaching. I must admit to being taken completely by surprise by the amount
of confusion and division within the Church on this topic. However, a careful
perusal of the Scriptures will clearly show the correct way to view the One
that we call God. As always in my teachings I will take no prejudicial stance,
but will limit myself to only that which is
revealed to me by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. If any of my
own “interpretations” are given, they will be so indicated.
Within the
Church there are basically two camps on the issue of Who or what God is or
isn’t; The so-called Trinitarians and the so-called Oneness Pentecostals.
The essential question to be asked from
the positions of both camps is this. Is the Godhead represented as three as
one, or is it one as three? Well it will turn out that the classic positions of
both camps are incorrect, for they have sought to use human reasoning to
understand that which is unfathomable, and thereby fitting it into the confines
of the limitations of human intellect. In defense of their positions, both
sides have used the same Bible, and pointed to and mangled the same scriptures
in a vain attempt to support their view , while at the same time disparaging
the opposition. In this teaching no attempt will be made to convince either
side, but I will simply reveal what it is that may be known of the Divine
Nature. My strong recommendation is for
the reader to make a valiant effort to suspend any preconceived notions as to
the Godhead, and let the unfolding of these scriptures “speak” for themselves.
If you can do this, then you will be surprised at the clarity with which these
simple doctrines reveal themselves. Finally my goal here is to continue to
accomplish in the Body of Christ today that which was begun by the Lord Jesus
and our beloved brother Paul two millennia ago. Namely to reveal to you THE
UNKNOWN GOD. ( John 1:18, Acts 17:22-23). Now on that thought, let us begin by
asking this question. What is it that may be known of God? Romans 1:18-19 tells
us that whatever that might be, God has clearly revealed it to us by the things
that He has created, which themselves declare His Glory.
II. The Godhead:
The essential question to be answered in understanding the
Godhead is this. How do we fathom something that at no time has been seen, and
what frame of reference do we find adequate to describe that, which is not
perceptible to the senses?
Col. 1:15
John 1:18
We must then look to those things which are perceptible and
bear witness to the Divine Nature
(Godhead), namely;
1. Christ Jesus
2. Creation
3. Man
Before proceeding on I think that
it would be quite useful to define what we actually mean when we use the term
“Godhead”. We find that this word occurs three times in the bible. The references
and their Greek meanings are given below.
Acts 17:29 2304 Theios ( Thi’-os) Godlike, Divine, Godhead
Rom. 1:20 2305 Theiotes (Thi-ot’ace) Divinity, Godhead
Col. 2:9 2320 Theotes (Theh-ot’-ace) Divinity, Godhead
The word is best defined as
meaning, that which manifests, exemplifies, and portrays attributes universally
understood to be indicative of the Divine Nature.
( Easy definition: Those things that show Godness)
The cast of characters involved
in portraying this Divine Nature are several. Chief among them is the Lord
Jesus Christ. At no time has anyone seen God (The Father) but His Divine Nature
has been revealed to us by His Son, who is the beginning of the Creation of
God.
1st Tim. 3:16
Col. 2:9-10
Rev. 3:14
Col 1:15
Heb. 1:1-2
Eph 3:8-9
III. The Role of Jesus in Creation In
beginning (God) The Father created (bara) the heavens and the earth ( by
and through
the Son and the Holy Spirit). These descriptors of agency are never used of the
Father , showing Him to be the Head and Director of all the things that are
done by or through the other two.
Then strangely, we find that the earth was without form and void. A quick look at the Hebrew will give us
some insight here. The verb which is translated as was is Hayah(1961), which
literally means “to breathe” - to exist,
to be, to become, to happen, as in Gen. 19:26 where Lot’s wife became a
pillar of salt. With this in mind, it makes much more sense to render this verb
in Gen 1:2 as the earth became
without form and void. This is much more in keeping with what we know of the
attributes of God, in that He would not create something de-novo, which was
formless and dark. So then it is logical to assume that something happened to
the earth post creation that resulted in its departure from the glorious state
that it originally exemplified. Much
speculation has abounded on this topic, and it’s a pretty safe bet that Lucifer
had something to do with it, but since that is another matter entirely, I will
defer that discussion for another time. Next in Genesis 1:3, we find a most
interesting statement.
Then God said, “ Let there be Light, and there was Light. There was much, much more to this simple transaction than
meets the eye, This is not a statement concerning natural light for that did
not occur until day 4 of creation. But it is here that Spiritual light entered
into the earth realm, in the form of the Son of God. ( proof of this assertion
will be offered shortly) At this point He began a mission which likely is to
last 7000 years or 1 week of millennia..
He was commissioned by the Father to do two things:
To provide a
people for the Father, that He could be their God.( John 12:31-32)
To put underfoot
(destroy) every enemy of the kingdom.( 1st Cor. 15:20-26)
After giving the Son of God power of attorney or authority
which; although limited, was sufficient to accomplish the task, He(the Father)
excepted Himself.(This was a necessary step in order for the Father to avoid
being, Himself, subject to the Son). Thereafter with few exceptions, the Father
has had no further dealings in the affairs of men, but has relegated this duty
to His Son. This lasted from Adam until the day of Pentecost, when mankind
received the right to enter into fellowship with the eternal Father. This
relationship occurred through our elder
Brother, the only begotten Son, by Whom, we cry out with the spirit of
adoption, Abba Father. This fulfilled
part 1 of His commission from God. Part
2 will be accomplished at the conclusion of the 7000 years when the last enemy,
death, is put underfoot.1ST Cor. 15:20-28.( Note: The 7000 year time
frame is a reasonable speculation on the part of the author.)So then it was
left to the Son of God to represent the Diving Nature (Godhead) on the earth.
Since at no time has anyone seen God,
it was the role of the Son to bear His image and to declare Him to the world.
John 1:18. This mystery is to be
revealed in stages with each manifestation revealing more of the Divine Nature
culminating ultimately in the complete unveiling of the Father, with Whom we
now have fellowship. (1Tim. 3:16) This unveiling process began on day 1 of the dispensation of man, when it was
the Son of God who worked the heavens and earth to make them habitable. It
climaxed on day 6 when He began to fulfill His number 1 objective by making man
in the image and likeness of God (the Father). Having completed this task, He rested
on the 7th day. (This was wise since there were 7000 more years of
hard work ahead.)
1. It is not natural or celestial light from the sun since
this does not occur until day 4 so
then, it must be Spiritual Light.
2. 2 Cor. 4:1-6
3. John 1:1-3
It is clear that since at the beginning, the Father was
still “THE UNKNOWN GOD,” and the Son was not yet revealed, nor the Holy Spirit
given, that it was not possible to distinguish between members of the Godhead
in the old testament. So consequently,
the same descriptive terms were used interchangeably to depict both Father and
Son.
In the Hebrew of the old testament, there are at least 6
terms that when translated indicate Deity.
·
YAHWEH - He who is (
self existent one) translated THE LORD
·
ADONAI - Lord
·
ELOHIM - Plural noun;
meaning objects of worship
·
EL - singular ;
Mighty One
·
ELAH - an object of
worship
·
ELOAH - object of
worship
In the old testament, in any given scripture, any of these
words may be used to refer to either the Father or the Son. However, since I
have already established that the job of reclaiming the earth fell to the Son
and the Father being excepted ( for it is unlawful for the servant to be
pre-eminent over the master), most references to the Godhead are speaking of
the Son. So then, whenever one of the
aforementioned 6 words are used, unless it is clear from the context (meaning there is clear reference to both),
you may safely assume that the God being referred to is the Son. The Jews did not deal with the
Father, but their God is the Son. We
only see the Father in action in matters limited to the following.
·
Judgement ( Wrath )
Gen 19:24
·
Adjudicating
Celestial disputes
A - Zech 3:2
B - Jude v. 9
·
Bearing witness to the
commission of the Son
A- By Prophecy
·
Psalm 110:1
·
Isaiah 42:1-9
·
Psalm 45:6-7
·
Psalm 2:7-8
B - Directly
·
Matt 3:16-17 “This is my beloved Son”
·
John 12:27-32 “ I
have both glorified it & will…”
·
Mark 9:2-8 “ This is My beloved Son, hear Him”
·
2nd Pet 1:16-18 “
This is My beloved Son, hear Him”
By contrast in the new testament,
we see an unveiling of the Son of God so therefore there is only one word
translated God ( Theos)and this word
always refers to the Father. ( In every book of the N.T. God the Father is
identified as separate and distinct from Jesus the Son.) Note: Look at the
greetings of all of the epistles
It was necessary for the Son to
be separated out from the Father theologically since the only way to know He
who is unknowable, is to perceive Him who comes in the image of the unknowable,
but yet is clearly visible. This process occurred in the new covenant with the
revelation of the Son of God as such.
John14:7-11
John
1:18
John
6:44-46
After
the revelation of the Son of God, it was then possible to distinguish between
the Father and the Son, which the New Testament does effortlessly.
There is a rather tragic
irony here seeing as how the Jews rejected the same one whom they had always
known and accepted as Jehovah, because they did not recognize Him when He came
as the Son of God. They were unable to resolve between the individual members
of the Godhead, which was due more to the hardness of their hearts than to
their ignorance. They failed to perceive that the God that they rejected as the
Son, was indeed the same Deity that was
known to their fathers as Jehovah. The key to understanding who the Son is, is
to differentiate who He is to the Father from who He is to us. To the
Father He has always been the only
begotten Son, but to us He has been or
will be manifested in at least five different ways. These will be discussed in
greater detail later on. For now allow me to convince you that the One that we
know as Jehovah from the old testament, is indeed none other than the Son of
God. Consider the following:
1. The Son of God
was in the beginning with the Father and was the agent of the
creation. He was Yahweh ( He who
exists) long before He became Emmanuel.
He was glorified with the Father from the beginning.
John 1:1-5
2. Melchizedek - This was the Son of God
·
Gen 14:18
·
Psalm 110:1-4
·
Heb 5:1-44
·
Heb 6:17 - 7:2.
·
The Angel of the Lord
- was the Son of God.
·
Exod. 3:1-6 - The
Bush Dweller (Deut 33:16 -Confirms the identity of the bush dweller as Yahweh)
B.
Zech 3:1-6 -
Identifies the Angel of the Lord as Yahweh
C.
Gen 16:69-13 - The Angel speaks to Abraham
D.
Gen 22:11-12 - Abraham’s
“ sacrifice” of Isaac to the Angel of the Lord
E.
Gen 22:15 - The Angel
of the Lord swears by Himself
F.
Gen 31:11-13 - The
Angel of the Lord claims to e God
G.
Gen 48:16 - The Angel
the “Redeemer”
H.
Exod 13:21 - The Lord
who was the Angel of God going before Israel in the cloud Exod 14:19
I.
Judges 2:1-4 - The
Angel of the Lord identified as Yahweh
( I swore to your fathers)
J.
Judges 6:11-23 -
Gideon sees the Angel of the Lord face to face and lives
K.
Judges 13:1-25 -
Samson is born v. 18 My name is Wonderful
L.
Psalm 34:7 - The Angel of the Lord encamps about all
those who fear Him & He delivers them
M. Hosea 12:2-4 - The Angel that Jacob struggles with was
Elohim
The Angel of the Lord speaks in the first person and with
authority when dealing with the affairs of men.
Ex: (I will do this and that)
Gen 16:10
Zech 1:12,3:4
Divine characteristics of the
Angel of the Lord: The following
scriptures prove that the Angel of the Lord cannot be an ordinary angelic being since He exhibits behavior that is
characteristic of Deity.
Psalm 34:7 To be feared
Psalm 34:7 Claims to be the Deliverer
Exod. 3:1-6 His name is Yahweh
Gen 48:16 Redeemer
Gen 22:15 Swears by Himself
Gen 22:11-12 Receives sacrifices
saiah 37:.36 Destroyer of men
People who marveled at seeing The
Angel of the Lord (God) and not dying: In all three of these instances, those
who encountered the Angel of the Lord face to face acknowledged Him as God.
They marveled that they did not die having seen His face.
1.
Gen 32:30 Jacob
2.
Judges 6:22-23 Gideon
3.
Judges 13:21-23 Manoah
4.
The I AM Exod. 3:13-14
John 8:31-59
John 13:19
V. The Son of God - What may be Known:
In order to fully understand the role of the Son of God in
the Godhead, we must realize that His operational capacity changed according to
His dispensation. As previously stated, The Son of God has manifested or will
manifest Himself to the earth realm in five different ways. I will discuss them
in sequence from past to future. Bear in mind that these manifestations are
from the perspective of mankind. ( See figure 1)
A.
The Word, The Light God (Eternity
pastà day one of creation)
He was the Word and the
Light John 1:1-5
He was the only begotten
of the Father John 1:l4,18 Psalm 2:7
He was glorified with
the Father John 17:5, Phil 2:5-7
Through Him, creation
exists Rev 3:14
B.
Yahweh ( the Angel of the Lord, Melchizedek, I AM) (day one àvirgin birth)
·
He was the God of the
Jews - previously discussed
·
Sent to put evil
underfoot and to gather a people holy unto the Father
·
Limited in authority Zech 3:1-2
Gen 19:24
Heb. 1:1-4
C.
The Lamb - the birth of Jesus(Yeshua) à Golgotha
·
The Deliverer of
Israel Luke 1:67-74
·
A Light to the
gentiles Isa 42:6, Eph 2:11-13,
Luke 2:29-32, Acts 9:15
·
Emptied of His Deity Heb 2:5-18, Phil 2:5-8 reputation gr.
def(2758 - kenoo) to make empty, to
abase, to neutralize, void
John 17:5
Heb 10:5-7
·
Anointed by God to preach
and to heal Luke 4:16-21
·
Tested, refined and
perfected Heb2:17,4:14-15, Luke 4:1-13
·
Became a curse for us
- being rejected by all, both man and God
( Isa 53:3,
Matt 21:42, Luke 17:25 - MAN)
( Matt 26:36-46,
27:45-46, Isa 53:11 - GOD)
·
Suffer and die
Acts
26:19-23
Heb 13:9-12
Mark 9:11-12
D.
The High Priest –
(the Resurrection àthe
Return to the Mount of Olives)
·
Offer up the blood
before the Father as an eternal propitiation for sin
Heb
3:1-2
Heb
4:14-15
Heb
9:11-15
E.
The King – (the Mount
of Olives -à
Eternity future)
·
Returns to earth to
battle terrestrial enemies
Luke
21:25-28
Rev
19:11-21
·
Return to earth to
battle celestial enemies
Rev
20:1 - 3
Mark
13:24-27
·
Execute Judgement
John
9:39
John
5:22 - 30
Rev
20:11-15
·
Rule for 1000 years
with the saints
1ST
Cor 15;25
2ND
Cor 2:12
Rev 5:9-10
THE GODHEAD
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God
the Father |
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Son of God (7) |
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Resurrection |
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The Word The Light |
Melchizedek, Elohim, Yahweh, Angel of the Lord |
The Lamb (6) | ||||