Daily Archives: November 25, 2009

Knowing God as Father

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Paterology on by

As we continue through our study we now have a comprehension of Who God is. We know what it means that there is no God but one God. We know that the God the Father is Himself full deity, not lacking in “Godness” apart from His own Spirit and His own Son – but being complete. We have at least a vague but technical comprehension of the incomprehensible nature of God the Father; and we have seen His Supremacy in the godhead – the Trinity. What remains then to be seen is our own relationship to Him.

For those who are not born again the only relationship possible with God is that is the relationship of the judged to judge. But for those who come to the Father through Jesus Christ the relationship transforms beyond imagination: John 1:12 summarizes the reality when we read:
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Through faith in Jesus Christ we are more than forgiven, we are adopted.

We are adopted by the Father’s Sovereignty

Open your Bible this morning to the first chapter of Ephesians; where we begin our journey with the Father’s role in our adoption as sons.

The Supremacy of God the Father

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Heresiology Paterology on by

The magnificence of God demands that the study of Him requires more than our finite minds can offer. This is certainly true when it comes to studying God as Father, Son and Spirit; God as Trinity. In the first centuries the doctrine was not defined but it was still, simply held. From the beginning the disciples recognized God in Three Persons, One Essence.

John Owen, the Puritan wrote, “the sum of this revelation in this matter is, that God is one ; — that this one God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; — that the Father is the Father of the Son ; and the Son, the Son of the Father ; and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Father and the Son ; and that, in respect of this their mutual relation, they are distinct from each other.” 1

The apostles heard Jesus order them to baptize in the (singular) name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They heard Jesus proclaim that the Spirit would be another of the same kind. They recognized and rightly worshiped Jesus as fully God. And they heard Jesus proclaim that He and the Father were one, and demonstrate it by His works. Hearing and seeing and experiencing God in the flesh before them as they did, they were led inexorably to the unity of God in trinity.

The Trinity is one of the most boggling concepts in the scripture, and all of our struggles to comprehend it fall short.

One of the most complete statements on the trinity is the Athanasian creed. Written perhaps around 500 AD (up to two hundred years after Athanasius (died Ca 373AD))