God the Father

In Christian theology there is very little controversy about the nature of God as regards the Father, the eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing Creator. Yet the very word Father indicates a change of relationship at a point in time (see Heb. 1:5,5), since parents must have existed prior to their children. Thus terms such as eternal Father or eternal Son(ship) are oxymorons on the order of original copy or true lies. The eternal existence of God in three Persons does not, and could not, mean that a father/son relationship was also eternal.

This brings us to the matter of alleged hierarchy among the Persons, with the Father at the top. A prerequisite of hierarchy is the existence of more than one will, yet never in scripture do we see the will of God as plural (wills). As shown in the Great Commission of Mat. 28:19 the Father, Son, and Spirit have one shared Name, though the three Persons are distinct. Please see the chapters on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity as a whole. Our inability to fully grasp how three can be one is no excuse to ignore scriptural descriptions of God as such.

Only one Person added human nature to God as described in John 1 and Phil. 2, the one we call Jesus. Failure to remember his dual nature is the root of many false teachings, not the least of which is that God’s one will is somehow hierarchical. Jesus, as a mortal, showed by example how people should relate to their Creator: as a benevolent yet just and powerful Father, deserving of both our love and our respect. What Jesus did not model for us is how some people should be under permanent authority of others (especially not in marriage), or that God has a split will. This answers the question of how Jesus could be God if he prayed to God.

As distinguised from other so-called gods

Look again at the first three sections in the chapter on the Trinity to learn why, unlike in other religions, the Persons of the Trinity are neither one Person with three manifestations (i.e. wearing different hats) nor three separate gods.

As the One who offers to adopt us

As explained in passages such as John 3:16 and 2 Cor. 5:18-20, the one true God reaches out to us and offers to adopt us out from this flawed orphanage. This offer is a gift (Rom. 4:2-5, Eph. 2:8-9); it cannot be earned or forced, as other religions and heresies teach. This is the God of the Bible, the one whose attributes leave all other gods behind.