Post #5 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed - "One God, the Father almighty"

Introduction:

    In the last post we began to expound on the Nicene Creed's first opening words "We believe" here Growing Christian Resources: Post #4 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed - "We Believe". We now move to the first article or division of the Nicene Creed, namely the affirmation of the Person of God the Father. As we will see, the Biblical, and thus Christian view of the nature of God is inseparable from consideration of the Divine Persons of the Trinity. 

    Why begin with the Father? Jesus gave this Biblical definition of salvation the following in John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Knowing God personally is the chief end of salvation. An unbeliever only knows God as their Creator to whom they are accountable and stand to face in judgment (Romans 1:18-20). All humanity descended from Adam know "about" God but do not "know" Him as Father. The Person of the Father and born-again sinners are reconciled by the Son. The phrase "the true God" in the passage speaks of the Divine Person of the Father. Thus, the Nicene Creed begins with consideration of the Father. 

The seven-fold structure of the Nicene Creed centered around the Trinity.

    Before we get to the phrase "One God, the Father almighty", it may help us to grasp the major divisions of the Creed. The Nicene Creed's 34 lines (per the Greek and Latin texts) are centered on the doctrine of the Trinity.1 Below I have put the headings, along with the text of the Nicene Creed in smaller print. For interested readers, I've placed additional comments in endnotes. 

I. God the Father

We believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible

II. God the Son in His Godhood and manhood.2

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only begotten Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages,

light from light,

true God from true God,

begotten not made,

of one substance with the Father,

through Whom all things came into existence,

Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down from the heavens,

and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and became man,

and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,

and suffered and was buried,

and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures

and ascended to heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father,

and will come again with glory to judge living and dead,

of Whose kingdom there will be no end;

III. God the Holy Spirit 3

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life.

He proceeds from the Father and the Son,

and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.

    Note: Let the reader see that the remaining four articles of the Creed touch upon what are by-products appropriated or "properly credited" to the Holy Spirit's work done inseparably with the Father and the Son as One Triune God.

IV. The Spirit's speaking through the Prophets, reminding us of Divine authorship of Scripture.

He spoke through the prophets.

V. The Spirit of God is responsible for birthing forth the Church, which is affirmed as "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church."

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

VI. The Spirit of God is the agent involved in the regeneration of the human soul in saving faith. The Nicene Creed's "baptism for remission of sins" is directly from Peter's words in Acts 2:38.4

We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

VII. The Holy Spirit will also be the Agent responsible for the resurrection of saints and of making it possible for them to rule and reign with Jesus Christ in His Kingdom and into the New Heavens and New Earth. 

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.

    Now that we've overviewed the Creed, let's consider the opening line about God the Father.

One God, the Father almighty

    As we turn our attention to this opening line in the Creed, we are confronted with three interrelated truths. First, the oneness of God in His essence or being. Second, the Divine Person of the Father. Third, a key perfection or attribute which summarizes the totality of what it means to be God. Let's take these truths in their order, with the aim to show how belong together.

We believe in One God,

   The Nicene Creed first states the oneness of God in His being. This affirmation of "monotheism" is constant throughout the Bible (see for instance Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 8:6-7). Rufinas, a fifth century church father, wrote a commentary on the Apostle's Creed, which begins similarly to the Nicene Creed: "I believe in God the Father Almighty". In His comments he writes:

"When you hear the word God, you must understand thereby a substance without beginning, without end, simple, uncompounded, invisible, incorporeal, ineffable, inappreciable, which has in it nothing which has been either added or created. For He is without cause who is absolutely the cause of all things." 

    The Westminster Short Catechism's Question 4 gives us a summary of God in His nature:

"Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."

    There is God, and then there is everything else. Although God is incomprehensible in this way, He nonetheless has made Himself knowable through creation, His Word, and the incarnate Son of God. In the Old Testament, the Father is revealed as "God", "LORD", and other Divine names.5 In most of the 5766 places within the Hebrew Bible where we observe the personal name of God, Yahweh"/"LORD", as well as most of the 2706 places where we see the more general name "Elohim" mentioned, unless otherwise indicated, God the Father is the Divine Person connected to those terms.6 

     As we shall see in later posts, to affirm the oneness of God means that sameness of deity in its quality and perfections is equal and undivided among the Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus, "We believe in One God,"

We believe in One God, the Father 

    In our English translations, as well as the Latin version of the Creed, a comma is placed after "in One God,". A comma may not seem like a big deal. However, commas indicate the carrying on whatever came before the comma and thereafter. To put it plainly, we cannot separate the "essence" or "being of God" from the Persons of the Trinity. It's not like we have the Three Persons of the Trinity in one corner and a "fourth piece of God" in another. 

    By nature, God is what we call "Divinely simple", meaning He is not composed of "parts". A "part" is an element or quality that is less than the whole. My arm for example is a part of me, yet it is not I. When a composer writes music, he or she includes notes, a score, and melody. Each of those are "parts" and are put together by the composer. God is not composed by anyone. His attributes are not "pieces" of His nature. By nature, God is love, is holy, is wise, and so forth. Divine simplicity preserves two other significant doctrines of God's Divine nature - the fact He never changes or "immutability" (Malachi 3:6); and the fact He is truly One in being, incapable of division or diminishment in power. 

    How then do we get from "One God" to "The Father"? Two truths necessarily follow from this opening statement about the Father. 

1. First, as God by nature, the Father has never not been "the Father", since as God He is eternal, without beginning nor origin. Being God by nature tells us "what" the Father is - "God".7 

2. A second implication in confessing "I believe in One God, the Father" is that as "Father", there must also be "The Son". The eternal relation of the Father begetting the Son tells us that the Son has always been the Son, having communicated to Him the eternal Divine essence from the Father, both of which are co-eternal, co-equal Divine Persons, one in being (see Psalm 2:7; John 5:26; 10:30; 1 Corinthians 8:6).8 

    We have seen so far the confession of "One God, the Father". 

"One God the Father, the almighty"

    We come to our third and final term in our exposition on the opening line of the Creed - "Almighty". The beauty of this opening phrase is it begins with the oneness of God's nature, ties it to the Divine Personhood of the Father, and then loops back to a core perfection of the Divine nature. Out of all the attributes the Council of Nicaea chose to use, why refer to God, the Father Almighty? Why omnipotence? 

Author Charles T. Grant, in the Winter 2002 edition of "The Emmaus Journal", writing an article entitled "Our Heavenly Father", notes of Divine omnipotence,

"Omnipotence means that God can do whatever He desires to do. “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isa. 46:10). “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Ps. 115:3). It does not mean that God’s actions are without rational or moral restraint. Rather it implies that God is able to do everything which is consistent with His nature." 

    When we talk of omnipotence, we must qualify the term with reference to what God can and cannot do. Scripture tells us that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Why? God is a God of truth - i.e. the "True and Living God" (Jeremiah 10:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9). God cannot change His essential nature (Malachi 3:6). We know that God cannot be unfaithful to His promises, since He is always faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). 

    These qualifiers do not cancel out Divine omnipotence, but rather serve to underscore what the Bible says on the subject. The Father, being truly God by nature, can do all He pleases, which means such attributes as His eternality, immensity, omniscience, omnipresence, and Divine independence help us to see how the power of God is indeed unlimited. 

    Since the Father is Almighty, the same applies to the Son and the Holy Spirit, with whom He communicates and shares the undivided essence. 

    It doesn't take much to find God's omnipotence in the Scripture. Near the end of the New Testament we find the following glorious statement of God's omnipotence,

"Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns." 

    In bringing the true practical meaning of this attribute home to the Christian, A.W. Tozer writes, 

"Omnipotence is not a name given to the sum of all power, but an attribute of a personal God whom we Christians believe to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe on Him to eternal life. The worshiping man finds this knowledge as source of wonderful strength for his inner life. His faith rises to take the great leap upward into the fellowship of Him who can do whatever He wills to do, for whom nothing is hard or difficult because He possesses power absolute." 

Putting it all together: "We believe in One God, the Father Almighty"

    We've seen today that the Creed starts off with an affirmation of the oneness of God's being - monotheism. The undivided Divine nature is inconsiderable apart from the Triune Persons, since the Divine nature itself is wholly possessed by them. 

    The attribute of omnipotence or God the Father being "almighty" makes possible all the other perfections that the Bible ascribes to God in His essence. The Father's relation of begetting the Son and the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son mean that all three Persons, beginning with the Father, are the One Almighty God. 

Endnotes:

1. The Nicene Creed in total is 34 lines in length, of which 29 are devoted to summarizing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their eternal relationship and activity within the Godhead. The remaining five lines deal with acts for which the Holy Spirit is the chief agent, along with the understanding that His agency in the inspiration of the Scriptures, the Church, the new birth, and the forthcoming resurrection and the world to come is inseparably done with the Father and the Son as One Triune God.  

2. The Creed expresses the Person of the Son under two subdivisions - His deity and humanity. The Godhood of the Son means He is equal with the Father in terms of being or essence, begotten of Him from eternity. The term "begotten" speaks of the relational property that is unique to the Son or what makes the Son "the Son" and not the Father. 

     The manhood of the Son deals with His incarnation through the virgin Mary, His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.

3.  The Holy Spirit is equal in power and glory with the Father and the Son. He is worthy of worship alongside the Father and the Son as One true and living God. The Holy Spirit is also "LORD and Giver of Life", with "LORD" stating His equality with the Son, and "Giver of Life" showing His equality with the Father. 

    The Holy Spirit, like the Son, is equal in power and glory to the Father, sharing in the whole Divine nature. The Holy Spirit's "procession from the Father and the Son" shows His distinction from them as a Divine Person in the Godhead, not being the Father nor the Son. 

4. Baptism here refers to water baptism, which is a visible sign, administered to a new believer who has already been born again in saving faith by the Holy Spirit. Baptism is used by the Spirit of God to reinforce in the disciple's mind and heart their prior, born-again experience of saving faith (see Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21). 

5. We see God the Father in the following Old Testament examples. Isaiah 63:15 "Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation....". Then Isaiah 63:16 "For You are our Father....". In Daniel 7:9, the Father is "The Ancient of Days". In Malachi 1:6 and 2:10, we see reference to "The Father", as the "LORD of Hosts“. 

6. Deuteronomy 32:6 gives first clear mention of the Father's  involvement in the salvation of His people (other examples include Isaiah 43:10-11; 63:8, 15-19; 64:6-9). Passages such as Job 38:8; Psalm 33:6,9; and Malachi 2:10 indicate God the Father as having the capability to create. No doubt Jesus, in His many mentions of the Father throughout the Gospel, taught this very same truth (see Matthew 19:1-7; John 5:25-29). Jesus no doubt taught this truth in His expression of the Father sending Him, the Son, to be the Savior of the world (John 3:16). 

7. Theologians will often refer to the Father as "the principle without principle", meaning He as God had no beginning. As to His subsistence or "eternal standing" within the Divine nature, the Father is God by nature, eternal, without beginning.

8. By nature the Father is eternally God. By identity, the Father shares or conveys the eternal, undivided nature with the Son, which Scripture describes as the Father "begetting the Son" (Psalm 110; John 1:14; 1:18; 3:16 and others). To put it plainly, unless the Son has always eternally been begotten by the Father, there is no Fatherness (what theologians call "Paternity") to speak of with regards to the First Person of the Trinity. True Biblical faith cannot confess the One True and Living God without beginning with affirmation of the Father. 

    

Post #42 The Doctrine of God: The Old Testament and Jesus' Teaching On God the Father as Creator And Redeemer

Introduction:

    In our last post http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2024/04/post-41-doctrine-of-god-old-testament.html, we began to look at what the Old Testament and Jesus had to say about the Deity of the Father and the Father's relationship to Him as the incarnate Son. We noted that the Old Testament reveals the Person of the Father under four major subjects:

1. God the Father as truly God.

2. God the Father sharing the same equality of deity or Godhead with the Son.

3. God the Father being the Creator of the world.

4. God the Father being the Savior of His people.

     We looked at the first two headings and will devote the remainder of this post to the final two subjects. The point of our current postings is to establish a Biblical theology of the doctrine of God with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity. One major point to make is that the New Testament's revelation of the doctrine of the Trinity did not come from left field. The testimony of Jesus and the Apostles reveal a full-realization and progressing revelation of the Old Testament foundational truths we already noted about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Godhead. 

    Thus far then, we can say Jesus's teaching brought together the above  truths into a coherent picture of the Biblical doctrine of God. It is this coherent picture that springs forth the full robust doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament.  

God the Father as the Creator of the world. 

    If we take into consideration everything I wrote above, we can understand why the Old Testament makes known the Father's work in creation. Passages such as Job 38:8; Psalm 33:6,9; and Malachi 2:10 indicate God the Father as having the capability to create. The Father, often called "the First Person of the Trinity", is assigned the title "from whom all things are made" (1 Corinthians 8:6).1 As to the work of creation, we must not forget that all three Persons inseperably worked as One God in creating all things. 

      This capability of the Father as the Creator, being God by nature, is also ascribed to the Divine Person of "the Word" or Son and the Person of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 33:6,9 and Psalm 104:30. Such Scriptural assigning of creative abilities to the Son and the Holy Spirit lead to the conclusion that they are wholly God by nature - with all three Divine Persons being God the Creator.

    Such ascription of Divine power to the pre-incarnate Word and the Spirit of God is the Old Testament's indirect way of pointing us to their equality with the Father in regards to deity. No doubt Jesus, in His many mentions of the Father throughout the Gospel, taught this very same truth (see Matthew 19:1-7; John 5:25-29). 

God The Father as the redeemer of His people. 

    We've noted how the Old Testament teaches us about the Father as He is as truly God, His relationship to the Son, and His work in creation. We've observed how Jesus taught those same truths. One final area we find the Hebrew Bible teaching about God the Father is in His role as the redeemer of His people. 

    It is in this work of redemption where the Old Testament shows us precursors of the doctrine of God the Father. Such "precursors" set the stage for Jesus' teaching and the underpinnings for a full New Testament revelation of the Trinity.2 

   So, we have seen four main ways the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament brings forth the revelation of God the Father, and how Jesus incorporated such truths into His teaching.

1. God the Father as truly God.

2. God the Father sharing the same equality of deity or Godhead with the Son.

3. God the Father being the Creator of the world.

4. God the Father being the Savior of His people. 

Jesus' teaching about the Father and the Godhead - what additional light He shed upon the Godhead.

    I have labored to show how much unity there is between the Old Testament's vision of God as one in being and plural in person and Jesus' reaffirmation of the same. We must equally grasp that the incarnate Christ furthered our understanding as to how those two major truths about the God of the Bible (His unity of being and plurality of Personhood) operated to set the ground for the doctrine of the Trinity.

    The 19 century theologian B.B. Warfield's essay on the Doctrine of the Trinity points out that what Jesus was setting forth was not new. The doctrine of the Trinity flowed naturally from the Old Testament through Jesus' teaching into its full-orbed revelation in Acts, the Epistles, and the Book of Revelation. 

    What was it then that Jesus brought to the table that propelled the understanding of the Godhead forward? 

    The unity of the Godhead and the plurality of the Persons find their clarity in Jesus' teachings, which interested readers may read more about in the footnotes following this post.3 

   Thus, in the Old Testament, the acts of creation and salvation are used as lenses to introduce us to the Father. What Jesus does is show how He Himself is that primary lens, explaining the Father and making Him known, since He Himself is truly God as the Father as God - He being the Revealer and the revealed (see John 1:18; John 14:8; 17:3). 

Closing thoughts

    Whenever we combine what Jesus says about the distinctions He and the Father have as Divine Persons along with the mutual indwelling language we devoted time to in the last post, what emerges is a firm foundation for the continuing, progressive revelation of the Trinity in the Bible.  

    This then demonstrates what I said at the beginning of today's post concerning what Jesus taught about the Godhead, and the agreement between Himself and the prior Old Testament revelation.

1. There is one, and only one true and living God that is one in nature or in His Godhead.

2. This Godhead (that is, deity, Divine nature, Divine essence, God's very substance and being) is equally and wholly in each of the Divine Persons - The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Endnotes:

1. In theology, we often refer to the Father as "the first Person of the Godhead". Why is that? The idea of "first" means "principle", which is to say the Father is unoriginated, the "unbegotten One", who makes common the Divine nature by His eternal act of "filiation" or "begetting" the Son (see Psalm 110; John 1:18; 3:16). 

    The ordering here is not an ordering of importance (all three Divine Persons are of equal importance). The ordering is also not that of power, being, or glory (all three Persons are one in nature, hence co-glorious, co-eternal, omnipotent). The ordering of "first person", "second person", and "third person" refers to how the undivided Godhead or nature is communicated among the three persons.  

    Thus, the Father, as I mentioned, is described in the Bible and in the doctrine of the Trinity as "begetting the Son", the fount that makes common the Divine nature. The Son, eternal and without beginning, ever receives or is "begotten" in an eternal, second act of sharing in the Divine nature with the Father. Then, the Father, with the Son, in what we could call a "third activity", makes common the Divine nature in what theologians refer to as "spiration" (that is, an outbreathing) of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is identified then as the third Person of the Trinity, proceeding eternally from the Father and the Son (John 15:26). 

    This "order of eternal relations" distinguishes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from one another in terms of identity, while at the same time affirming their equality and unity of being. 

2. It is in Deuteronomy 32:6 we find first clear mention of the Father's explicit involvement in the salvation of His people - 

“Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you." 

    The remainder of Deuteronomy 32 is devoted to how the Father saved Israel from Egypt, carrying them along as a father would his son. 

    Isaiah 43:10-11 is another striking example of the Father being the Redeemer of His people, with the reminder that He is God by nature, and that there is no other God - asserting His nature of self-existence or what theologians call "Aseity" (from the Latin a se, meaning "from oneself"). 

    This same self-existent, exclusive Redeemer of God's people is expounded most clearly in the Old Testament in Isaiah 63:8, 15-19; 64:6-9). Jesus no doubt taught this truth in His expression of the Father sending Him, the Son, to be the Savior of the world (John 3:16).

3. The places Jesus teaches about the Father in Matthew 6:9-11; Mark 8:38; 11:25; 13:32; 14:36; Luke 10:21-23; 11:11-13; 15:11-32 sharpen the picture about the Father, with the additional, startling reality of the intimate awareness and uniqueness of relationship Jesus has with this Father that no other had. 

   We find Jesus revealing truths about Himself as He teaches the sharper picture of the Father. For example, as truly man, Jesus shows how much He is yielded in His human will to the Father's will, thus encouraging others to do the same (Matthew 6:10, 25-32; 11:25; 12:50; 21:31; 26:39,42; Luke 23:34; 6:36; 10:21-22; 11:2,13; 12:30). As truly God, the Son equates Himself with the Father, who being God by nature, means Christ Himself is truly God as well (John 5:17-18; 5:26-27; 8:58). 

    No doubt the "only-begotten" language I referred to earlier in Psalm 2:7 finds its way in Jesus teaching about Himself in His relationship with the Father (John 1:14-18; 3:35; 5:20; 10:17). To be "the only-begotten Son" refers to how the Father, as the unoriginate one, shares in common that same unoriginated nature through communication of it to the Son by the eternal act of begetting. 

Post #41 The Doctrine of God: The Old Testament and Jesus' Teaching On God the Father's Deity And His Relationship To The Son

 

Introduction:

    In the last post here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2024/04/post-40-doctrine-of-god-jesus-teaching.html we focused upon Jesus' teaching about the unity He has with the Father and the Holy Spirit by way of their "mutual indwelling" with one another. We looked at key passages in the Gospels where Jesus used the "He-in-me, I-in-Him" language. Such phraseology indicated that Jesus had in mind two pillar doctrines that are essential for a Biblical understanding of the doctrine of God,

1. There is one, and only one true and living God that is one in nature or in His Godhead.

2. This Godhead (that is, "deity, Divine nature, Divine essence, God's very substance and being) is equally and wholly in each of the Divine Persons - The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

    We can summarize these twin pillars of Biblical theology proper (i.e. the Doctrine of God) as God's unity of being and plurality of identity. Both pillar truths provide the basis for articulating the Doctrine of the Trinity. 

    It may surprise readers to know that in most respects, what Jesus taught about the Godhead in its unity and plurality of identity was revealed throughout the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament (albeit in progressive fashion). In other words, much of what Jesus taught in His doctrine of God was not novel. He simply added further insight to an already established theology proper revealed in the Old Testament. The famed 19th century theologian B.B. Warfield in his essay "The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity" in his "Biblical and Theological Studies", page 32, comments on how the New Testament authors handled the doctrine of God with respect to the Old Testament revelation

"The simplicity and assurance with which the New Testament writers speak of God as a Trinity have, however, a further implication. If they betray no sense of novelty in so speaking of Him, this is undoubtedly in part because it was no longer a novelty so to speak of Him. It is clear, in other words, that as we read the New Testament, we are not witnessing the birth of a new conception of God. What we meet with in its pages is a firmly established conception of God underlying and giving its tone to the whole fabric."

Jesus' teaching about Himself and God the Father

    As Jesus revealed Himself as the decisive revelation of God in human flesh, He always pointed to the Father.  Who exactly God the Father was in the Old Testament, as well as how Jesus conceived of Himself in relationship to the Father, will enable us to get more prepared for the New Testament's full revelation of the Trinity. 

    We can summarize the Old Testament revelation of God the Father under four headings. For this post, we will detail the first two of those headings, and deal with the remaining two in the next post. The four ways the Old Testament reveals the Father is as follows:

1. God the Father as truly God.

2. God the Father sharing the same equality of deity or Godhead with the Son.

3. God the Father being the Creator of the world.

4. God the Father being the Savior of His people.

    As I expound each heading, let the reader note how Jesus reiterates that truth in His own instructional ministry.

1. God the Father as truly God.

    He is the eternal one, being without origin by nature, expressing all the Divine attributes that we have looked at in previous posts. In the Old Testament, the Father is revealed as "God", "LORD", and other Divine names. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 63:15 "Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation....". Then Isaiah 63:16 "For You are our Father....". In Daniel 7:9, Daniel relays a vision of the Heavenly throneroom, speaking of the Father as "The Ancient of Days". In Malachi 1:6 and 2:10, we see reference to "The Father", the "LORD of Hosts", being His name. 

    In most of the 5766 places within the Hebrew Bible where we observe the personal name of God, Yahweh"/"LORD", as well as most of the 2706 places where we see the more general name "Elohim" mentioned, unless otherwise indicated, we can safely say the Old Testament is speaking of God the Father.  

    Jesus made a point to distinguish Himself in His humanity as submitted to the Father, to whom as truly man He regarded as the only true and living God by nature (Mark 10:18). He also made a point to show Himself, as truly God, being equal to the Father, with whom He said He was "One" (John 10:30). As truly God, the Son mutually indwelled with the Father, meaning they both shared the undivided nature or Godhead as One God (see the previous post in the this series). 

    The incarnate Son also claimed He could perform the same functions as the Father in forgiving sin (Mark 2:7), raising the dead (John 5:25-29; 11:25), and executing final judgment (Matthew 11:25-27; 25:31-46; 28:18).  

2. God the Father sharing the same equality of deity or Godhead with the Son.

    We've already noticed how the Father is called "Yahweh/LORD" throughout the Old Testament. In most cases, we can assume the Old Testament is speaking of Him. The only times where we find exception to this is when mention is made of another figure, "The Angel of the LORD" in passages such as Genesis 16:7-11; Exodus 3:6,14; 23:20-33; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 2:1-5; 13:18; Malachi 3:1-4 and others. Or, where we see an occasional mention made of "two-Yahwehs" (a Yahweh in Heaven and a Yahweh on earth - Genesis 19:24; Job 19:25-28). 

    Biblical scholars refer to this Old Testament revelation of the Father and the Angel of the Lord or other designations of a second Divine Person as "the two-powers doctrine". It is well documented in the Jewish literature spanning between the 400 year gap of Malachi and Matthew the Jewish beliefs about a "Yahweh in Heaven" and a "Visible Yahweh".  

     Scholars such as Michael Heiser have noted that following the advent of Christianity and the Bar Kochba rebellion of 132 A.D., the Jewish Rabbis expunged any mention of such "two-powers teaching", thus eliminating their one-time held belief of the plurality of Divine Persons within the Godhead.                    

    As one studies the Old Testament revelation, as well as Jesus' own teachings, it is evident that within the Godhead there is a plurality of at least two, if not three Divine persons. Each Person is distinct, while equal in their possessing the entirety of the Godhead or Divine nature.  

    For instance, we find the Father "begetting" the Son in Psalm 2:7, a term Jesus used often in His teaching ministry about He and the Father's relationship (John 1:14, 18; 3:16). Proverbs 30:4 explicitly mentions the Persons of the Father and the Son. The Old Testament revelation gives us two general conclusions in regards to the Father's relationship to the Son. 

    First, the Father and the Son both share and reveal the totality of the Divine nature or Godhead. Then secondly, the two are to be distinguished from one another while exhibiting the same Divine perfections we would expect when talking about God. 

Conclusion for today

    In our next post we will continue noting how the Old Testament reveals God the Father as the Creator of the World and the Savior of His people. We will also draw conclusions as to how Jesus not only incorporated the revelation of the Old Testament's teaching of the Father into His own expositions, but also the additional light He shed upon the relationship shared between the Father and Himself. Such understanding will show the reader how the Old Testament and Jesus' teaching paved the way for the New Testament's full-orbed revelation on the Trinity. 

How The Spirit-Filled Life Leads Christians To Be Focused On The Heavenly Father

Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

Introduction:

The great 18th century preacher George Whitfield made a comment once about the ignorance so-many Christian people had in his day about the benefits of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What we writes seems so true in so much of the American church today:

"Nothing has rendered the cross of Christ of less effect; nothing has been a greater stumbling-block and rock of offense to weak minds, that a supposition, now current among us, that most of what is contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ, was designed for the Lord's first and immediate followers, and consequently calculated but for one or two hundred years."

Whitfield later adds:

"Many now read the life, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the same manner as Caesar's commentaries, or the Conquests of Alexander are read: as things rather intended to afford matter for speculation, than to be acted over again in and by us."

When it comes to the Spirit-filled life, we find the Spirit's main purpose in bringing about a more vibrant awareness and experience of God in the believer's soul. 

Jesus was in His ministry and life both Spirit-led and Father-focused

Whenever one studies the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, two immediate traits emerge. First and foremost, the Lord Jesus Christ, touching His humanity, was led by and filled with the Holy Spirit. The title "Christ" literally means "anointed one". In nearly 45 places we find references to Jesus mentioning, ministering and being empowered by the Holy Spirit. He not only lived by the Holy Spirit as a mark of His Messiahship, but more so to portray for us a true humanity empowered by the Holy Spirit - a heritage He has available to every Christian.

The second trait about the ministry and life of the Lord Jesus is how "Father-centered" He was in His thinking, emotions and decision making. We discover Jesus referring to the Heavenly Father nearly 70 times in the four Gospels. He called on Him in prayer, spent time with Him and never reckoned the timing of His decisions apart from the Father's will.

The Christian is called to be Spirit-filled and Father-focused

Is it possible for the Christian in their humanity to approximate this intense "Father-focused" lifestyle of Jesus Christ? Absolutely! Note the command urged upon every Christian in Ephesians 5:1, wherein we read: "be imitators of God". Wow! How can this be? Jesus states similarly in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48 - "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." It is very clear that I in my humanity am called to carry-out this command. Yet, I by myself cannot do it alone. 

The Holy Spirit, Who is by very nature God, comes to indwell at salvation (1 Corinthians 3:16). This means then that by the Holy Spirit in me, I can imitate God in terms of His moral attributes (love, righteousness, holiness, goodness and all the rest). Theologians sometimes make a distinction between God's "incommunicable attributes" and "communicable attributes". The former are qualities not shared between God and other beings (such as omniscience, omnipresence). However, there are traits which God does share with people in a comparative sense (love, mercy, justice, etc.) 

In a Christian, these communicable attributes become empowered by the Holy Spirit, resulting in the Christian acting, thinking and expressing in their emotions an approximation of God's very presence. Much like sunlight shining through stained-glass windows, the Spirit's power expresses itself through those communicable attributes of the believer's human soul. The result? Read Ephesians 5:2 - "and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." 

Final Thoughts

As we become more focused on the Father, we come to imitate Jesus. Why? Because of the Holy Spirit's work in the Christian life.  The filling of the Holy Spirit is required if the Christian ever expects to be focused on the Heavenly Father.

Meditating more on the Person of the Father in the creeds and confessions

1 Corinthians 8:6-7 "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. 7. However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled."

Introduction
Yesterday we began considering the Person of the Father as He is described in ancient creeds and confessions. We meditated upon God the Father as He is expressed in the Apostle's creed, Nicene creed and Athanasian creed. These three particular creeds represent what the early Christians taught through the first five to six centuries of church history. Understanding our history is important, since we can trace how consistent we are today by how well we match the scriptures - which are the foundation of the Christian faith - and past generations of Christians in their attempts to do the same. Today we will conclude our meditation on God the Father through creeds and confessions by considering how He is expressed in more contemporary doctrinal statements. 

God the Father in relationship to the Son and Spirit as One God
The Father, Son and Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal and share in the One Divine essence, with the Father providing the reference point for all the relationships with the Son and Spirit, whilst the Son and Spirit in their relationship with the Father perpetuate the fullness of Deity shared between all three Persons. All three provide an equality of framework with reference to one another, while being distinct Persons possessing the One, united, Divine essence that makes them each truly God. The following doctrinal statements or confessions summarize the identity and nature of God the Father...

1. In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding

We fast forward 1100 years later to the Baptist Confession of 1689, wherein we find the language of the ancient creeds contained within this early expression of the Baptists. It must be grasped that in starting with the Person of the Father, two other crucial doctrines are understood: the Deity of Christ and the Personality of the Holy Spirit. As we pray to the Father, we also assume contact with the Son and Spirit, since all three are the One God revealed in the Old and New Testaments. This particular confession uses an older term for "person", namely "subsistence". Without going into too much detail, to speak of each Person of the Trinity as being a "subsistence" means each is a center of consciousness within the Godhead. This expresses how God is ever-relating within Himself and how, by nature, He is the relational God. 

2. God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

This final statement about the Father from the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 brings us up to modern day. We are reminded that the Person of the Father is known in "truth" in salvation. The "truth" here has to do with what occurs in saving faith in Jesus Christ through the scriptures. The Deity, providence and Personality of the Father is connected to the first part of the statement on God contained within the BFM 2000. The only way God the Father can become "Father" to anyone is by salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.  

Closing thoughts
We journeyed rather briskly through 2,000 years of church history to see what ancient and modern Christians have confessed with respect to the Person of the Father. It must be understood that any such statements are secondary in nature when compared to the believer's ultimate authority - the Bible. Still, it is valuable to know what Christian of the past have confessed. To see how the Person of the Father has been confessed and embraced can aid in deepening ourselves in the entirety of the Trinity. 

Meditating on the Person of the Father through creeds and confessions

1 Corinthians 8:6-7 "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. 7. However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled."

Introduction
We have been exploring the Person of the Father within the Trinity for the last few posts. In exploring the Old and New Testaments, as well as Jesus' statements about the Father, we have aimed to get to know the Father better. Today we want to consider briefly what ancient Christians had to say about the first Person of the Trinity. The terms used for God the Father in the creeds of the early church aimed to expound His nature and His relationship to the Son and the Spirit. We will note briefly a few of the ways in which the main Christian creeds, both ancient and modern, articulate the Father.

1. I believe in One God the Father the Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth
This first statement about the Father derives from the Apostle's Creed. The term "creed" arises from the first word in the Latin of this statement, "creedo", meaning "I believe".  Although the final form of this creed likely did not become finalize until the first few centuries of church history, its summation of Christian doctrine represents older creeds (like the Old Roman creed), which served to summarize the Apostle's teachings by the latter part of the second to early third centuries. 

Much like the Apostle Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 8:6-7, God as Father is understood as possessing the ability to create something out of nothing. Further reflection (especially from 1 Corinthians 8:6-7) reveals how even though one can infer the Creator God from general revelation in creation, the specific identity of this God as "The Father" is a truth derived from revealed scripture or "special revelation". 

2. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
This statement derives from the Nicene Creed, a major doctrinal statement from the 4th century. The description of the Father in this creed is similar to the Apostle's creed, with the further qualification of the realms of heaven earth being "all things visible and invisible". The "visible" realm includes our physical space/time universe that stretches some 40 billion light years, contains over 100 billion galaxies, countless stars, numerous planets and creatures such as dogs, cats and humans. The "invisible" realm is perhaps even more vast, with angels numbering in the trillions and immateriality expanding for who knows how far. Included in the invisible realm are the good angels, departed souls of Christian loved ones, the bad angels or demons and departed souls of those who rejected Christ and of course Satan. The invisible realm is portrayed in scripture as somehow interacting with the visible realm. We as human beings are the only beings that are both physical and non-physical, material in our body and immaterial in our soul/spirit. All this to say that this One God, Who is Father, Who is Son and Who is Holy Spirit, exercise His causal influence over every point and moment of time in the visible and invisible realms. This creed and the last emphasize the omnipotence of the Father in creating all things out of nothing. 

3. That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit.

This description of the Father is found within the creed called "The Athanasian creed. Although attributed to the fourth century church father Athanasius (who defended the Deity of Christ), the creed is likely a later development. As the Christian church continued to develop and refine its understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, it came to express the Person of the Father not only with respect to His power, but moreso in terms of His nature and relationship to the Son and Spirit. Of interest in this creed is expressing how God can be One in being and Three in Person. 

Within this particular creed we find the Father described in terms of being uncreated, incomprehensible and eternal. Additionally, He is also described as God, Lord and Almighty. The other two Persons are also described in these terms, with the emphasis being that all three Persons share these qualities due to their unity in essence. We then find the interesting term "unbegotten and not made" used of the Father in distinction from the Son, Who is deemed "begotten, not made" and the Spirit Who "is not begotten, nor created, but proceeding" and of course not made. These terms serve to remind us that there is God, the Creator, and then there is everything else - the creation.  

Some theologians don't like this language, since it seems to imply that in some manner, the Father may have preeminence over the Son and the Spirit within the Trinity. Whenever we consider more closely the use of these terms, they serve only to distinguish the Three Persons in their relationships to one another. Moreover, whenever we consider the New Testament's description of the Son as "begotten" in passages such as John 3:16, the emphasis is about the unique relationship between the Father and the Son, as well as the fact they both are equal, share in the same nature and possess the same qualities of true and full Deity. 

It would seem to this writer at least that the Father, Son and Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal and share in the One Divine essence, with the Father providing the reference point for all the relationships with the Son and Spirit, whilst the Son and Spirit in their relationship with the Father perpetuate the fullness of Deity shared between all three Persons. All three provide an equality of framework with reference to one another, while being distinct Persons possessing the One, united, Divine essence that makes them each truly God.

Closing thoughts
The aim of these current posts is to get us to think high and feel deeper love for the God of the Bible as He is revealed as Father, Son and Spirit. The Father in particular is where scripture and the creeds of Christianity encourage us to begin such meditations. We cannot go long though without contemplating the other two Person, realizing that God is in and of Himself a perpetual movement of relating and sharing in self-giving love. Such activity overflows and in-effect, God extends to His creatures the invitation to participate and relate to Him. This, after all, was His original intent in creating all things and is His intended end for all who by grace through faith respond to His overtures of grace in the saving work of Jesus.  

How the New Testament explains the Person of the Father

Matthew 3:16-17  "After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Introduction:
We previewed yesterday what the Old Testament had to teach regarding the revelation of Yahweh as, in and by the Person of the Father. We noted that when considering all of the Old Testament data on the Person of the Father, two themes emerge: 

1). God the Father is the redemptive Father of the nation of Israel. He redeemed His people. Imagery such as He carrying Israel as a helpless son was found in the writings of Moses and the Prophets.

2). God the Father is also depicted in eternity as the One True and living God, Yahweh. Certain passage indicate that the Person of the Father had certain conversations with another figure called "The Son". Although the outline is very faint in the Old Testament, we nonetheless get a glimpse of the Pre-incarnate Son of God who in some fashion has shared in a pre-existent, eternal relationship with the Heavenly Father. It will take the New Testament revelation of the Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelation to bring out the details of the nature of the relationship carried on between the Father and the Son.

Today we want to walk our way through the New Testament material. It must be underscored that in comparison to the Old Testament passages on the Father, the New Testament mentions the Person of the Father over 100 times. When the Person of the Son appeared in His incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth, references to the Father, especially in personal terms, expanded many times over. 

The appearance of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son in human flesh ever increased how we understand the Father in relationship to Him and to the people of God through Him. Theologian Michael Horton notes on page 274 of his theological volume: "The Christian Faith":

"If the New Testament affirms monotheism, however, it is also the Christian claim that the Old Testament already anticipates some sort of plurality when three distinct actors appear on the stage in Israel's history, sometimes even in the same scene, each identified as God. On the basis of the new thing that God had accomplished in Jesus Christ, the early Christians were directed by Jesus (especially in his postresurrection instruction reported in Luke 24) to reread the Old Testament texts with Him at their center."

With these thoughts in mind, I will simply list key New Testament passages and bear out a scant few remarks, since the material is overwhelmingly vast. 

Surveying the New Testament material on the Person of the Father
Matthew 3:16-17. The Father is bearing witness from heaven about the Eternal Son in human flesh. We also see the Person of the Holy Spirit descending down as a manifested dove. All three Persons of the Trinity make their appearance in this text. Jesus does not become the Son at the moment of His baptism. Rather, the Father is bearing witness of an eternal identity that has been enjoyed by the Person incarnated as the man, Jesus of Nazareth. In short, Jesus is the son of Mary with respect to His human nature and the Son of God with reference to His Divine nature.

Matthew 6:1-37. In the midst of Jesus "Sermon on the Mount" we find ten references to the Person of the Father. He is depicted as the Heavenly, Kingly and Merciful Father to His people.

Mark 8:38. Jesus refers to how He will appear a second time in the glory of His Father and the heavenly angels.

Luke 10:22. We read "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Jesus makes knowing the Father central to what is entailed in Personal saving faith in Him. 

John 6:46, 17:5. These two passages respectively are used by Jesus to show how with respect to the Father, He shares in the same Divine nature as He. The Oneness of the Father and the Son in being is asserted by Jesus, and thus constitutes the cornerstone for His claims to Deity. The later verse speaks of the meaning of eternal life or salvation: to know the truly and living God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. The Father is undoubtedly the One who sent Jesus. Both are distinct Person, yet One God - and thus the Son is as much the source of salvation as the Father. 

The Book of Acts. We find no less than five references by name to the Person of the Father. The Father is credited with having sent the promised Holy Spirit in, by and through the Son. He is the God who raised Jesus from the dead. The Father has authority in the realm of decreeing times, seasons and regulating all history, including the timing of the cross, the appearance of Christ in His first coming and what will be the second coming of Christ. The theological development of the Deity and worship of Jesus is predicated upon the Jewish Old Testament conception of the Person of the Father, with Whom He shares in one undivided Divine nature. 

The New Testament letters. We could detail the numerous references to the Father found in Paul's letters and the General Epistles. We can note how often Paul makes reference to the Father, along with the Son, as the common source of grace, mercy and peace. This common greeting at the beginning of most of his letters tells us that the early Christian movement, from its inception, saw the Father and the Son as One common source, further providing an important bridge to what would be a fully developed doctrine of the Trinity. The general letters (Hebrews-2 Peter) will interchange the Divine titles between the Person of the Father and the Person of the Son. It is astonishing to see the progressive revelation of scripture unfold from Old to New Testament with respect to the Father and the Son as Divine members containing true union in Deity and Deity expressed as a diversity of Persons (Father, Son and of course, the Holy Spirit).

The Book of Revelation. After the astonishing opening chapter, wherein we find depicted the full deity of the glorified, ascended Christ, we arrive at chapters 4 and 5. In Revelation 4 and 5 we find both Persons being worshiped and extolled. The Father is worshiped in Revelation 4:11 - “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” The throne of God and the Lamb are treated so intimately together as to seem one and yet, both are clearly distinguished. In Revelation 5:13 we read -  “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Closing thoughts
We have only sampled a small portion of the vast New Testament development of the Father. We find that in His unique relationship with Jesus, the foundation for Jesus' claims as God in human flesh is established. Both Persons are understood to have shared the One Divine nature from all eternity. The Son came to assume humanity, whilst never ceasing to be God. The Father was ever at the center of Jesus' experience of Him as man and at the same time, they ever had unbroken fellowship within the Godhead. The Father's sending of the Holy Spirit would become yet another element in the New Testament's development of the Triune understanding of God. May we ever endeavor to get to know the Father. 

The significance of the Old Testament revelation of God the Father

Deuteronomy 1:31 "and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’

Introduction:
Today's post will aim to capture some of the touching portraits of God the Father in the Old Testament. In about ten places we find reference to God as Father to His people. The imagery of a Father to son relationship is used throughout the Old Testament to capture the redemptive relationship between Yahweh and the people of God. The details contained within this motif provide the basis for some of the most amazing truths we find of the Person of the Father. When we arrive in the New Testament, Jesus uses this Old Testament framework as a launching point for His unfolding of the Father's identity. 

Furthermore, the Old Testament understanding of the Father gives hints to the Divine relationship that has been eternally carried on between the Father and the Son. Such an understanding opens the door to fully understanding the Triune identity of the One God of scripture. So, let's consider briefly some of these incredible passages as we aim to know the Heavenly Father better.

1. Deuteronomy 1:31. The Book of Deuteronomy is where we begin when understanding the Person of the Father in relationship with His people. In this passage, we see the Father carrying Israel, His people, illustrated as a helpless son. For those familiar with the wilderness wanderings of the people in the Book of Numbers, they did not deserve such gracious, tender treatment. Nonetheless, the point of this metaphor is to convey that the basis of the Father's relationship with His people is His powerful grace, not their performance. Deuteronomy 32:6 and 32:10-11 mention further how the Father redeemed His people and would ever identify Himself as their Saving God.

2. Isaiah 46:3-4. The prophet Isaiah would write his prophecy under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit some 700 years after Moses and 700 years before Christ. Once more, we find this theme of a Father carrying a child that is incapable of saving itself. Note what we find in Isaiah 46:3-4 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth And have been carried from the womb; 4 Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you!
I have done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you."  

This theme is carried on by Isaiah in Isaiah 63:9 "In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them,
And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old." We discover in Isaiah's prophecy an explicit reference to God the Father as the one who endured maltreatment from His people in Isaiah 63:16 "For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, O Lord, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Your name." There is no doubt regarding the goodness of the Father and the undeserved grace with which He continued to dispense to a people that persisted in rejecting His overtures of grace. Such patterns provide the backdrop and repeated themes we find in the New Testament. The Person of the Father in the Old Testament is a good, gracious Person who intends to save those He has placed His affection. 

3. Hosea 11:3 The prophet Hosea echoes the imagery of the Father carrying his limp. helpless son through a desert wasteland in Hosea 11:3 - "Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them." This blindness and darkness in which the nation of Israel walked with respect to God the Father's efforts is a small-scale version of how the entire world functions. The Old Testament portrays the Person of the Father as consistently good, gracious, merciful and redemptive. Mankind, whether understood in the entirety of Adam's fallen race or in the smaller picture of Israel, is incapable and unwilling to yield to God's efforts to save. Only grace shining upon the unwilling heart can open it as sunlight falling on a spring flower to open the petals which would otherwise be closed in the darkness of sin. The flower of the human heart which is open will in faith receive what the Father has been offering - salvation, redemption and promise of an eternal relationship with Him.

4. Psalm 74:2 In our readings of the Old Testament revelation of God the Father thus far, we have seen touching portraits of a Father carrying a helpless son in His arms. Here in Psalm 74:2, we find another image, namely of the Father dwelling among His people. Note what we read - "Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt." Whether we are talking about the revelation and construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness as revealed in Exodus and Leviticus or the temple constructed by Solomon in 1 Kings, God the Father desired to be among His people. 

The tabernacle in the wilderness captures what God's plan ultimately would be once Jesus came on the scene. As the Father "tabernacled" Himself among the people in a tabernacle of cloth and wood (or in the case of the temple, wood and stone), the stage was being set for the Person of the Son to tabernacle among the people in flesh and blood as a man. 

Just as the Father's occupancy was made possible by the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, so was the incarnation of the Son brought to pass by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. The Son came to do His Father's work and undoubtedly, came to imitate in a fuller way what the Father had done in the Old Testament - namely to tabernacle Himself among the people. 

5. Psalm 2:7-8 As we consider one more cluster of Old Testament passages in attempting to understand the Person of the Father in the Old Testament, we find references to the Father's relationship to the Son. The Old Testament not only provides ample material for identifying the One God of Israel as the Person of the Father, but we also get hints of at least One other co-equal Person sharing in the same glory with the Father. 

Psalm 2:7-8 states: “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession." David is the author. What starts out as a seeming reference to himself quickly switches to the heavenly realms. David gives us a prophetic gallery seat to listen in on a conversation between the Father and the Son in eternity. 

Interestingly enough, we find a remarkable statement in Proverbs 30:4-5 that hints at the reality of the Pre-incarnate Son in relationship to the Father: "Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His son’s name?
Surely you know! 5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."

Conclusions:
Today we aimed to reflect on the Person of the Father in the Old Testament. We noted how the Old Testament gives us two basic lines of thought regarding the Father. First, He is Yahweh, Jehovah God who redeemed His people. The Person of the Father nationally identified Himself with the nation of Israel. Israel was portrayed as a helpless child, incapable of saving itself. 

The Father's faithfulness, grace and love was undeserved and often rejected. Such a pattern is re-echoed and amplified in the New Testament through the ministry and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus often-times spoke of how the Father had sent Him to a people and a world that, apart from grace, did not deserve nor could save itself. So, we find the Father's work in relationship with the people He long to redeem (see 2 Corinthians 5:15-21).

Then we saw a second cluster of passages which pulled back the curtain to give glimpses of the relationship the Father has always had with the Son. The Person of the Son existed before His incarnation in the flesh in the New Testament. Moreover, the nature of the relationship the Father has had with the Son precedes the existence of the world and, is eternal. Such "hints" suggest what we find explicitly to be the case in the New Testament - namely that the Father and the Son have always shared in the One, eternal Divine nature (along with the Holy Spirit). 

It would be in this framework of themes that Jesus would express His full and undiminished Deity in His visible expression and revelation of the invisible Father who sent Him. He as the eternal Son in relationship with the Father came into our world to partake of true humanity. Jesus, in His humanity, was the human representative who walked out perfectly the covenant as a son in relationship to the Heavenly Father, something which Adam, the whole of the world and Israel in particular had failed to do. Both clusters of Old Testament passages find their fulfillment in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament revelation of God the Father is invaluable for helping us to grasp the fuller revelation of Him by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. May we aim to get to know Him more through Jesus Christ.