GOD—THE FATHER
I remember learning about the Holy Trinity at my Aunt Belinda’s house. My brother, picking his toes, and I, somewhere drifting into space, stared blankly when she kept saying “God is three in one: Father, Spirit, and Son.” It didn’t matter if it was at church, vacation bible school, or bible lectures on my grandma’s porch, anytime the Trinity came up I was confused. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit being the same being and different beings simultaneously just didn’t make sense. I have heard preachers say it’s like a person being an uncle, brother, and father. At the time it gave some sort of reference, but an uncle, brother, and father share the same body. But, God has always dwelled in Heaven, Jesus dwelled on the earth, and now the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. Three starkly different entities and functions all being God is a deep mystery that is very hard to grasp.
IN SCRIPTURES GOD IS REFERENCED AS FATHER AND CREATOR CAUSING DISTINCTION BETWEEN HIMSELF, JESUS, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
In Genesis 1:1, God is described as the Creator of the Heavens and Earth. Through the scriptures to follow it discusses His creation of day and night, separation between the sky and sea, animals on land or in the sea, etc. By verse 26, God says, “Let us make mankind, in our image..”. The word “us” and “our” indicates plurality which then introduces the idea that God was not alone.
John 1:1 begins with “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He—The Word—was with God in the beginning. Through him—The Word— all things were made; without him—The Word—nothing was made that has been made.” Now, connecting what we learned in Genesis and what we know now from this scripture in John we can draw deeper understanding.
“The Word was with God” means the The Word and God are separately dwelling together. If I am with my mother, me and my mother are both present.
“The Word was God” means The Word and God are the same.
“The Word was with God in the beginning” tracks because in the beginning God said, “Let us make mankind in our image.”
A scripture in John confirmed a scripture in Genesis so let it be a reminder that scripture confirms scripture. Before you assume the Word of God is contradictory consider your limited study time, understanding, and heart posture as the cause of confusion.
John 5:19 starts, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
How could Jesus see what His Father was doing if He was not born until The New Testament? Jesus also known as The Son and The Word, existed in the beginning with God and He also was God per our scriptures in John and Genesis.
Whatever the Father does, Jesus does, because God the Father and Jesus the Son are both God.
GOD’S CLEANLINESS AND MANS UNCLEANLINESS CAUSED A SEPARATION THAT WAS ONLY RECTIFIED THROUGH BLOOD.
In the Old Testament there were five types of offerings made to God: the burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering. If we focus on the burnt, sin, and trespass offerings we’ll find that for each committed against God or others a blood sacrifice was needed. These sacrifices were made near an altar or place where God would dwell. In tabernacles or temples, there would be an inner room covered by a veil, also known as The Holies of Holies. The only person permitted to enter was The High Priest, once a year, for the blood of sacrifice and incense. So, there was a clear separation between man and God due to our instinctual sinful nature. So much so that if you walked into the Holies of Holies without offering your proper sacrifice you would drop dead immediately. Illustrating that without atonement for our sins our ability to be in the presence of God could not happen.
Also note, that God did not dwell with people in the Old Testament like Jesus did in The New Testament. For example, God appeared as a burning bush to Moses (Exodus 7:7), an Angel to Hagar (Genesis 16), and a pillar of cloud and fire to the Children of Israel (Exodus 13:20-22). Never communing with or in, like Jesus or the Holy Spirit respectively, proving again the distinct differences in identity and function between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
THE ONLY WAY TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER IS TO GO THROUGH GOD THE SON.
In John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.” As previously learned a blood sacrifice and a High Priest was needed in order for people to be in rightstanding with God. Knowing our weaknesses and our inability to remain upright God sacrificed His son as the ultimate sacrifice, covering a multitude of sins, once and for all. Later in scripture we will see Jesus being referenced as the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) illustrating that He is our advocate, our way, our covering, in order to go and fellowship with God.
The first step in beginning a relationship with God is understanding our nature and our need for a Savior. It takes humility to know, accept, and understand the depths of the darkness that we possess inherently. Yet, it is the only thing that allows us to look outside of ourselves and towards something greater.
