OFFICES/ROLES/MODES/FUNCTIONS FULFILLED BY ONE GOD

OFFICES/ROLES/MODES/FUNCTIONS FULFILLED BY ONE GOD

The three terms of Father, Son and Holy Ghost indicate three different roles, modes, functions, or offices through which the one God operates and reveals Himself.

The Father

• The title Father indicates a relationship between God and man, particularly between God and His Son and between God and regenerated man. Jesus taught many times that God is our Father (Matthew 5:16, 45, 48).
• The term "God the Father" is biblical and refers to God Himself (Galatians 1:1-4).
• God is the Father; He is not merely Father of the Son, but the Father of all creation (Malachi 2:10; Hebrews 12:9). He is also our Father by reason of the new birth (Romans 8:14-16).
• Jesus as a man had an additional relationship to God in a sense that no one else has ever had. He was the only begotten Son of the Father, the only One who was actually conceived by the Spirit of God and the only One who had the fullness of God without measure (John 1:14, 18; 3:16; Luke 1:35).
• The Bible plainly states that there is only one Father (Malachi 2:10; Ephesians 4:6). It also clearly teaches that Jesus is the one Father (Isaiah 9:6; John 10:30). The Spirit that dwelt in the Son of God was none other than the Father (II Cor 5:19).
• It is important to note that the name of the Father is Jesus, for this name fully reveals and expresses the Father. In John 5:43, Jesus said, "I am come in my Father's name." According to Hebrews 1:4, the Son "by inheritance obtained a more excellent name." In other words, the Son inherited His Father's name. We therefore understand why Jesus said that He manifested and declared the Father's name (John 17:6, 26). He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that stated the Messiah would declare the name of the LORD (Psalm 22:22; Hebrews 2:12).
• In what name did the Son come? What name did He obtain from His Father by inheritance? What name did the Son manifest? The answer is apparent. The only name He used was the name of Jesus, His Father's name.