The Father and the Son

The apostle John wrote the words, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", John was confessing a newly revealed truth. In this opening verse of his gospel, John was proclaiming the existence of two divine persons who somehow were one, and, at the same time, were with each other.

Verses existed in the Old Testament which indicated that God had a Son (e.g. Prov.30:4); however, during the time those Scriptures were written, God did not allow even the men who wrote them to understand the mystery of His Son, who was with Him in heaven. On the other hand, the earliest church preached Christ everywhere they went, with only the Old Testament writings as a Bible, for their eyes had been opened to the meaning of the ancient Scriptures. They saw the Son of God in every book Moses wrote, though Moses himself did not see.

None of the wise men and prophets of Israel saw the truth concerning the Son, "for [scriptural] prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Spirit" (2Pet. 1:21; Mt.13:16-17). Strange as it may seem, God spoke of His Son through the ancient holy men, but He would not allow them to understand the meaning of their own words (1Pet.1:9-12). John's message of two divine persons was not new to the Scriptures. What was new was that John understood what he was writing, whereas the old covenant men of God were "kept in the dark" concerning their own prophecies of the Son of God!

An excellent example of this mysterious inspiration can be found in Proverbs 8. In the remarkably prophetic chapter, Christ, the "wisdom of God", speaks of the beginning of his life with Jehovah the Father: The Lord created me in the very beginning of His way, long before His works. I was made in eternity, at the first, before the world began. In John's Revelation, Jesus reaffirmed this testimony of his own creation by calling himself "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev.3: 14). Not only is he the beginning, Christ is also the ending. In his own words, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Rev. 22:13). In other words, the first and the last thing which the Father created was the Son. Everything else was created by the Son (Jn.1:3). The heavens and the earth, angels, men, beasts, fowl, sea creatures, - everything, everywhere - was created by the Son for the praise and glory of his Father. It was the Father speaking to the Son in Genesis 1:26, when He said, "Let us make man in our image". The "us" in this verse from Genesis is not a reference to a "trinity" of divine persons. There is no such thing. This is simply the Father making known His will to His Son, who then created man - according to the will of God, his Father. Empowered by his Father, the Son of God created everything, except himself.

Ignorant of the meaning of his own words, King David continued his glorious testimony of God's Son in Prov- erbs 8: When He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him. And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Imagine! Prior to the creation of anything else, Christ was ecstatic with joy, just to live in the presence of his Father! In this same chapter, wisdom declares himself to have been "brought forth" before the oceans and mountains were created. He also tells us that "When He prepared the heavens, I was there." Before anything existed, the Father created for Himself a Son (Jn.17:5), who then created everything else (Col.1:16-17). All men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him - Jesus, in John 5:23.

Centuries before it took place, the Son spoke through Isaiah concerning both his close, dependent relationship with the Father and his future sufferings on earth: "Come ye near unto me, hear ye this. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, there am I. And now the Lord God [the Father] and His Spirit, hath sent me.... The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.... The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious.... I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (Isa.48:16; 50:4-6).

The books of the prophets are replete with such examples of the truth concerning the Father and the Son (read Isaiah 53), truth which was hidden from the very ones who proclaimed it. One may learn much about parents by observing their children. Especially is this the case with the Son of God. Jesus said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Fa- ther." Amen. Anyone who has seen or known Jesus has seen the Father, because the Son is "the Amen; the true and faithful witness" (Rev.3:14). My sons are like me in many respects, but Jesus is much more like his Father than my sons are like me. As testimony to this, Hebrews says that Jesus is "the express image" of the Father's person (Heb.1:3). Incredibly, this phrase, and others like it, have been misconstrued by some to mean that Jesus is the Father Himself! Pray, child of God, to avoid this grievous error, for "he is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son" (1Jn.2:22).

So, while some teach that there are "three Gods in one", others say that Jesus is the only God there is, but the truth lies between these two errors. The Father created the Son, "the firstborn of every creature", and the Son created all other things. This is easily understood and clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures. Neither the doctrine of the "holy trinity" nor the doctrine of "Jesus only" is true. There are in heaven two persons who are worthy to receive worship: The Father and the Son.

Jesus did say, "I and my Father are one" (Jn.10:30), but the issue is, "how are they one?" The answer is found in Jesus' prayer to his Father, just hours before his crucifix- ion. In that compassionate prayer for his followers, Jesus pleaded with the Father "that they may be one as we are" (Jn.17:11). So, the question is, "How are believers `one' in Christ?" For in the same way that we are "one" in Christ, the Father and the Son are also "one".

Surely, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is clear to see that this unity is in spirit, not in body. If Jesus were the Father Himself, and we are to be made one as he is one with the Father, then all believers must become the same person. This is nonsense. When believers are made one as Christ and his Father are one, we are united in spirit and mind, not in person. You are you, and I am I. We will never become one person, and neither will the Father and the Son. Nevertheless, in Christ, believers may be "likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind" (Phip. 2:2).

Jesus is not the Father. But he walked so meekly, doing the Father's will, that anyone who saw Jesus was seeing the heart of God in action (Jn.14:7). Jesus showed us the Father (Jn.14:8-9). To know Jesus is to know the Father because Jesus does only what pleases the Father. Jesus and his Father are of the same mind, the same judgment, the same love and purpose. This is the unity that Jesus prayed would be given to us, and it must grieve him deeply to see the church so completely divided and confused by the doctrines of Christianity! If there is any prayer we can pray that must be acceptable with God, surely it is that all His children walk together in the unity of the Spirit and strive together for "the faith that was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

What a powerful witness it would be to the world, if the saints were united, as Jesus is united with the Father! For all who would ever believe in him, Jesus prayed "that they all may be one. As Thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me" (Jn.17:21). But, how can the world believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father, when those who belong to him preach con- flicting doctrines and practice differing ways of worship?

There was never a misunderstanding between Jesus and the Father. There was never a quarrel over doctrine or position, no suspicion or gossip. They were in perfect accord as to faith and purpose, and Jesus suffered and died to make that peaceful communion with the Father available to us - not a oneness in person, but in spirit! We will never be united bodily into one person. But through Christ, we can be "partakers of the divine nature.... likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind". By the precious holy Spirit, we can know the Father, and live according to His will, as Jesus did, without ever a cross word between us! We can do it, in Christ! We can do it! O God! Let it be!

The Father has a body. God's Son also has a body. They can look at each other, just as you and I can. The Father did not take on a fleshly body and die on the cross. The Son of God did. The Son, after his Father raised him from the dead, ascended and sat down at his Father's right hand. They are two persons, one greater than the other (Jn.14:28), one more knowledgeable than the other (Mt.24:36), one worshipped by and feared by the other (Heb.5:1-8), one sanctified and sent into the world by the other (Jn.10:36), as said the Spirit of Christ through the prophet, "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do Thy will, O God" (Ps.40:6-9). One was the Husbandman; the other was the Vine (Jn.15:1). One was teacher; the other was taught (Jn.8:40). One was, and is, kept alive by the other (Jn.5:26; 6:57). In all things, the Son is subservient to the Father, for, though all power in heaven and in earth has been given to the Son, it is obvious that He who gave the Son that power did not submit Himself to him (1Cor.15:27-28). Every knee shall bow (Phip.2:10), except the knee of the Father. He will not bow to His own Son. Quite the contrary, for in the end, "shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

The truth is easily explained and understood. Even proponents of the doctrine of "three Gods in one" admit that it can neither be explained nor understood, yet they maintain that only those who subscribe to their faith are true believers in Christ. On the other hand, there are those who condemn anyone who refuses to believe that Jesus is himself the Father. Is this what Jesus suffered for? To leave us in the hands of men who can neither explain nor understand what they themselves say, but who denounce as heretics all who do not believe them? I think not. Let us then be thankful for the simple truth of the gospel, and let us honor both the Father and His Son!

If this message has blessed and increased your knowledge of the right ways of God, you will enjoy our FREE Tract Set which contains 20 gospel tracts with messages in similar length to this one. You will be challenged and encouraged by them so ORDER yours now!