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WHO IS THE FATHER? ©Copyright 2000 Randall Duane Hughes We live in world that is in a sad condition. The morals of our society have fallen until the question of who is the father is asked too often! It is God's plan for one man and woman to marry and live in such a manner that this question should never be raised. However, there is a billboard in our city that advertises DNA test to answer just such questions. This is a question that God never intended to be asked! If mankind would obey his laws and guideline we could avoid such troubling problems. But in a discussion of who God is, "Who is the Father?" becomes a viable question when one adheres to the doctrine of the Trinity. And there are at least three areas that we will address to determine the answer. The first area being that IF God is a Trinity then who was the Father of Jesus Christ. The next area being a look at what the Bible says about God as Father. And last, a look at who the Bible reveals as the Father! The doctrine of the Trinity states that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead that make up the one God. These three persons being, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of these persons is said to have various roles to fulfill to help in the overall process of the Creation of and then salvation of the world. Their distinctness is claimed to be maintained throughout eternity thus creating a God of three co-equal, co-eternal, persons. (There is another troubling question that beg to be asked, such as, who was the mother in eternity?) Such a doctrine (the Trinity) raises many serious questions! Unfortunately, most "Christians" of our day are content to attend Church once a week and do little to find out for themselves what the Bible truly says! Although the Bible is the best selling book, I wonder if it is the most read book in most of our homes? Thus the doctrine of the Trinity is seldom seriously investigated. In the Trinity there are two primary players of the Father and Son. The supposed Person of the Holy Spirit is seldom mentioned! (Jesus only mentions the Spirit 35 times compared to 178 times he mentions the Father!) This is supposedly because of the "co-equal" role "he" plays? It seems reasonable to conclude that if there are three persons in the Trinity, one called Father, and another called Son, that the Father would be the one to bring about the birth of that Son. It also would be logical that the Son would then have a relationship with his Father. This would all seem very reasonable and natural. This is NOT the case with the doctrine of Trinity! The Bible tells us very clearly that it was the Holy Ghost who performed the act of paternity that brought about the birth of the Son! Although, Jesus then carried out a Father/Son relationship with his step dad, virtually ignoring His birth dad! Consider the following Scriptures. Matt. 1:18 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." Matt. 1:20 "But while he thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Luke 1:34-35 "Then said Mary unto the angel, How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And the angel So the question, Who is the Father? The Holy Ghost IS the Father! That is exactly what the Bible says! So if the Father ISN'T the Father, then Jesus had a surrogate Dad! That is in the doctrine of the Trinity. There is, however, a "Oneness" solution! So what is the Biblical solution to this problem? Where do we get the DNA test? The address is: John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." If one considers the context here in John 4, they will find that Jesus is speaking specifically of the Father when he makes the above statement! Thus, the Father is Spirit, could just as easily have been said! Well, if God is a Spirit, how many Spirits does that sound like? A Spirit! Sounds rather singular! But lets look a little farther! Eph. 4:4 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;" 1 Cor. 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be So the Bible tells us that God is a Spirit, and that there is but One Spirit! Thus we have no problem. The One Spirit that is God, caused a baby to be born. This Spirit not only brought about this birth, but this Spirit also dwelt in this body! Col. 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (another translation for "Godhead" is "Deity," see ESV, NET, NIV, NRSV, etc) 1 Tim. 3:16 "And without controversy great is the
mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the The doctrine of the Trinity has to dissect God into three persons, or parts. This is contrary to the Bible and it explicit teaching of God's Oneness! In fact, the word "God" no longer means God! Sometimes it means Trinity! Sometimes it means Father! Sometimes it means Father and Son! Sometimes it means Father and Holy Ghost! Sometimes it means Son and Holy Ghost! Thus expressing to us that it is a non-Biblical, false doctrine! The Baptism of Jesus is a passage that Trinitarians love to go to, to show that there are "three persons." But in light of what the Bible teaches about God being One Spirit, this passage is clear that God is NOT a Trinity of persons! Trinitarians try to say that the voice represents the Father, and the dove represents the Holy Spirit, and then of course Jesus is the Son. Thus there you have three persons! But not so fast! First of all, John 1:18; 1 John 4:12 tells us that no man has seen God, and John 5:37 says that those he is speaking to have never heard the voice of the Father! Jesus makes this statement after his baptism! Secondly, IF God were a Trinity and it were the actual Father of Jesus speaking here it would be the Third person of the Trinity and not the first! Because as we have seen above, the Father is NOT the Father! Thus, the "Father" (supposed first person of the Trinity) in the trinity didn't show up for his own Son's baptism! Third, a voice does NOT a "Person" make! In other words, just because we have a voice does not mean we have a separate person! God spoke through a Donkey, Numbers 22:28, and Jesus said he could make the stones cry out praise to him! Luke 19:40. Fourth, the "dove" floated down and "abode" on him! There are several possibilities here! Isa. 46:11, tells us God can call a ravenous bird to go anywhere he wants! Also, it is doubtful John truly saw a dove. This is most likely a simile! "Like a dove." I doubt Jesus had a dove on his shoulder throughout his ministry! What we have to remember here is that God is GOD! He can do what he wants with anything He wants! If he wants you to hear a voice, you are going to hear a voice even if you are deaf! He can make you hear it if he has to stir up the molecules to create it! If he wants you to see a dove, you will see a dove even if you are the only one in a crowd who does! The voice and dove were simply signs given by God, so John would know that Jesus was the Lamb of God! Thus we have proven from the Bible that the "Father" (the First Person of the Trinity) wasn't the actual father of Jesus (that is as the doctrine of the Trinity would want it)! So what does the Bible say about God as Father? The Jewish people are strict monotheist! That being they believe in God as absolutely ONE! They do not divide him into persons, parts, or powers! What few verses in the Old Testament that seems to indicate a plurality in God had NO barring on this belief! They were the ones who wrote these verses, in their language, and yet they did NOT interpret them in the manner that Trinitarians try to do so today! Throughout the Old Testament we read about the ONE God. This God IS a Spirit! Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; 33:4; Isa. 40:13; John 4:24; This God IS everywhere! 1 Kg 8:27; 2 Chr. 2:6; 6:18; Ps. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24-27; Eph. 1:23; This God IS Holy! Lev. 11:45; Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8; (There are at least 41 references as the "Holy One.") And now the one point so central to our discussion here, the Jews considered this One God to be their Father! Thus, God IS Father! Deut. 32:6 "Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?" Isa. 63:16 "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." Isa. 64:8 "But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." Jer. 31:1, 9 "At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." " They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." Mal. 2:10 "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" One major aspect of this point is the perception of the Jews when Jesus then began to speak to them about the Father! They didn't stop and ask, what, are you talking about? The Jews understood! This is why in John 5:17-18; and again in John 10:30-33 the Jews sought to stone Jesus. In John 10:30 Jesus had said, "I and my Father are one!" The Jews in their blindness to who Jesus really was, felt that he couldn't be their One God in flesh! We are now at the last point in this discussion. Who the Bible reveals as Father. In light of the last few verses reference there should be no doubt as to who this will be! The prophet Isaiah told us that a child would be born and his name would be (or would embody the characteristics of) called Immanuel, Isa. 7:14. In Matthew 1:23, we find Emmanuel mentioned again, along with the interpretation, "God with us!" Remember that there are no divisions in God. God IS One! He cannot be divided up into parts or powers! Thus Jesus Christ was the One God manifest in flesh! This is what the Bible has to say about it! Isa. 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 1 Tim. 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (IF God were a trinity then Mary would have had triplets!) Col. 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Col. 1:15 Speaking of Jesus, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" 2 Cor. 4:4-6 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This is just a sampling of verses that prove that Jesus was God! The ONE God, revealed in flesh! The Trinity tries to say that Jesus was just a part of the Godhead. He was just one-third of God, the "second person" in that Godhead. But the Bible says that All the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily! Isaiah 9:6 tells us that this Son would be called, "the mighty God, the everlasting Father." In Mal. 2:10 the question was asked. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" It depends on what you believe about God. If you believe that God is a Trinity, then you have one person called "the Father" and another person who is actually the "birth Father!" Who IS the Father? It is the One God, an invisible Spirit who robed himself in flesh to redeem us to Himself! 2 Cor. 5:19 In Mal. 3:6 there is another statement that hold true. "For I am the LORD, I change not;" God is, and always has been absolutely One! With the doctrine of the Trinity we find people running around in a state of confusion over who the Father is? Is it the Holy Ghost? Or is it the one called Father? Who is the real Dad? God never intended such confusion! God is ONE! And it is God who is the Father. He was the Father in Creation. He is the Father to the Jews. And He is the Father of the body, the man Jesus Christ, that He dwelt in on earth! Call 1-800-DNA-test? NO! A proper understanding of the Scriptures reveals to us just Who is the Father! NOTE: It should be noted that the One Spirit, the One God who is Holy, and is in relationship with His creation, and with the man Jesus is the Father. Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever." This verse is clearly speaking of the One Eternal Spirit that Malachi 3:6 says "changes not." This verse is NOT in reference to the flesh that "increased in wisdom and stature" in Luke 2:52. Luke 2:52 would not be in reference to deity even if there were a Trinity! Typically (but not always) Scripture refers to Jesus in reference to the man. Thus in reference to the man it certainly would not be proper to speak of Jesus as the Father. However, in light of a verse such as Hebrews 13:8 that is very clearly speaking of the One Spirit that is God that dwelt within the man, the Spirit was the Father! Or in light of this verse it could be said, "Jesus is the Father." So Hebrews 13:8 is a New Testament re-iteration of Malachi 3:6 but with Jesus as the one never changing! However, typically the Father/Son relationship in Scripture is viewed as the distinction between Spirit and flesh, or God and man.
©Copyright 2000 Randall Duane Hughes |
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