In this post we will be looking at what the bible teaches about the form of God. How many God’s are there? Is Jesus God? Is there one God? Etc. When discussing many points linked to the spiritual, and more specifically to the form of God the first thing we need to understand is that because God is eternal and we are finite with very small minds we will not be able to fully grasp and understand everything about the topic. Also, God asks us not to make images of him with idols, because when we make things to describe him he knows we will be so far off (Act 17:29). Nevertheless, God has given us enough information in his word, to get a fundamental understanding of his form and government structure (Rom 1:19,20). In this same passage (Rom 1:19), it states that God makes himself understandable through the things that are made. When we study the bible closely we can see that the bible uses the family structure that God has made to help us understand what God is like.

When talking about God, we hear terms like father and son, obviously these terms come from the family. The bible says that we were made in the image of God, therefore, the family we see on earth today may be a reflection of what God is like. Let us begin.

The first point I’d like to discuss is that, we need to see God as a government, ruling structure or a family as opposed to one single entity. The first text in the bible says, “in the beginning God created”. Gen 1:1. The word “God” in Genesis 1:1 is “Eloheim” in the hebrew, and this word is a plural word, i.e denoting God’s as in more than one, the word Eloheim translates to:

1) (plural)

1a) rulers, judges

1b) divine ones

1c) angels

1d) gods

So we have, in the beginning, ‘rulers’ created the heavens and the earth. My conclusion from looking at this topic throughout the bible is that God is a plural family governing unit, which created, and rules the Universe. This perspective of looking at God is taught all the way through the bible however it is often overlooked and misconstrued. Explaining this subject will be the focal point of this post.

The central point of reasoning why God is a family is that by nature God is relational. The bible describes God as being love (1 John 4:8,16), and that this principle of Love is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:5), or in other words is others seeking. Thinking about it logically in our realm, love is a thing that must be directed outwards, i.e. given to someone or something else. The question of are we supposed to love ourselves? has been addressed in another post, which concluded that we should not be loving ourselves. So as God is a being, who is Love, it is impossible for God to exist by himself, he must always be loving.

So how many parts is the family of God made up off? The bible teaches that there are three parts. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” 1Jn 5:7. There is a lot of confusion on this, some say it is too difficult to understand, some say that they are all different forms of the same thing…. Thankfully, we have the bible to actually explain this is in greater depth.

This family, is a family of three totally separate individuals. NOT ONE individual who has three parts, but three totally separate individuals who have totally different identities who work together to form one unified governing family. The bible is very clear on this, let me give a few examples.

“There is one body, and one Spirit [Holy Ghost], even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord [Jesus], one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph 4:4-6

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” 2 Co 13:14

This is very interesting and will actually make a lot of Christians think… The bible actually does not say Jesus is God, It says the father is God, it calls Jesus “Lord”. Interesting???? I will get back to this shortly when I look at Jesus role in the heavenly family.

I have proposed that there are three different parts to the ruling family of the universe. Now, the question is, if there are three, how can they be one? This is answered simply by the understanding that they are one in purpose. Not identity, but one in the sense that they are in agreement of mind, direction and work. The bible gives us a way of understanding this. In the example of marriage, it says “a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Gen 2:24. Here we know that the two people will not physically become one, or become one identity, but rather they will be unified and work together in agreement to carry out their life’s purpose. It is the same with the ruling family of the universe. Just to throw in some examples of where the bible says they are one we will look to Deuteronomy and the book of John.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” Deu 6:4

“I and my Father are one” John 10:30

So the concept has been explained, but if you are anything like me, you still probably will not understand it, so I am going to go into explaining the individual parts of the ruling family. In short, what the bible calls God the father, is like the king of a royal family, then we have Jesus the son who is like the prince and then we have the holy spirit which is like the atmosphere or energy which defines the kingdom.

The Eternal Royal Family

God = Father = King = Ancient of Days

Every government, family, institution has one ruler. In the UK we have a government, i.e. labour or conservative, who are in power at a particular time. The whole party is ruling and governing the country, but they have one leader, who is the prime minister. In historic times, when the countries were ruled by the monarchies, the king or queen were the head rulers and they had princes or prime ministers to carry out their work, while they remained on their throne. In this case of God we have the being who is called Father, the ancient of days, King, and God. Now God in this context can be confusing, because the word God simply means ruler and it can also be used when all three of the ruling family come together. The name God in this term shows that this being is the God or main ruler of the ruling family of heaven. I have found two passages that show that the father is the King of the universe.

“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1Ti 1:17

“That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” 1Ti 6:14-16

This one may be a bit complicated but I hope I can explain it properly. The texts shows that this God is King, he is eternal, immortal and invisible. Now keep in mind the invisible part. In 1 Tim 6:14,15 it says Jesus Christ will show us the King of kings…who no man can actually see… because he is invisible. Now, this shows us that the father is King and it also shows us that he is invisible and no man can approach to him.

This leads onto the position of the son of God.

Lord = Word of God = Son of God = Prince = Jesus

As God the father, king of the universe is invisible, it is the role of the second member of the family to reveal and communicate the will and actions of the father to the universe. In John 1 it calls Jesus, the word of God. Word is a form of communication. The bible tells us that the son, the word, Jesus, actually physically created the universe (Col 1:16; 1 Co 8:6; John 1:3). I see it that God the father gave the instruction and Jesus created. Jesus is not only known as the son of the Godhead, he is also called the prince.

 “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go… And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” Act 3: 13,15

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” Rev 1:5

“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Act 5:30,31

Now the above texts clearly refer to Jesus as being prince. Another question comes to mind, what was Jesus doing before he came to earth? Was the time when he came to earth the beginning of his existence? Lets check this out!

Now many people would agree that Jesus is prince, but different people say different things about him, some people say that he is not God, some people say that he was created. Let me explain the truth of the matter. Jesus himself tells us that he was around before he was born. “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Joh 8:58 This is the own words of Jesus and they are unquestionable. Jesus goes further than this in the book of revelation where he himself tells us that he is the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev 1:11; 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). Isaiah tells us that this description only belongs to God. “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Isa 44:6

There are two prophecies in the old testament foretelling the coming of God in the flesh, Jesus and they both say that this individual who would be born among men would have existed from everlasting. This is extremely clear evidence that Jesus part of the eternal rulership of the universe.

“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.” Isa 9:6

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Mic 5:2

I mentioned before, that Jesus is not God he is the son of God. This may seem confusing. Let me explain, Jesus is part of the God family of the universe, or better translated, the ruling family of the universe, but he is not the ruler of the ruling family. The ruler of this family is the father, and we can see this throughout the bible. Jesus, the son, is always obeying the father, the son is always in submission to the father.

“Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” Joh 8:28,29

So the son is in submission to the father, who is the ruler of the eternal family. However, in this family, the father and the son are equal in importance and power. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” Philippians 2:5,6. A good worldly example, which Paul uses to help us understand this, is that of the relationship between a man and his wife. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Cor 11:3. God (the father) head of Christ and Man is head of the woman. The man is to be the main leader in the relationship, and the woman is supposed to be submissive to him, however they are both equal in importance, they both have different roles, skills and natural abilities which without either of them, they would not be able to create a happy family. And although the man is the leader a wise husband will lead as God teaches, by being a servant leader and always take his wives views into consideration when making decisions concerning the family.

The earthly name for the Son of God is Jesus, “Jesus” or ‘yeshua jahovah’ or ‘God the self-existent one saves’. The Son of God received this name when he was conceived through the Holy Spirit as it defined his mission to man on this earth. He came to as the eternal one to save man from his ruins. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” Mat 1:21. We know the Son of God existed in heaven before he came to earth, what form did he exist in? What was his name? The bible teaches that he was the head of all the angels, and his name was Michael. Please see the study that helps to explain this. Michael means “one who is like God”. He is called the prince (Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1). In both his role on earth and in heaven among the angels, he was to reveal what the father was like and what his will was to the created beings. He was the medium of communication between the eternal self-existent family and the rest of the universe

The Holy Spirit

The third part of the self-existent ruling family of the universe is the Holy Spirit. Now I do not know how to define the spirit at this present stage, the bible talks a lot about what the spirit does, but not so much about who or what it is. So I am not going to say much about the spirit in this post. I kind of see the holy spirit like this, (note I don’t know how biblical this is, but it is what I picture, so do not take this for fact). So we have God who is like the king of the kingdom, he sits on his throne. We then have the son of God, aka Jesus, aka Michael who is the prince of the kingdom, he fulfils missions of the kingdom, like sending the kings messages to the inhabitants of the kingdom, travelling to meet different people and check how the kingdom is going while the king sits on the throne. Then we have the spirit of the kingdom. One of the definitions of spirit in the dictionary is “the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people” one of the key transferable words for spirit is the word “feeling”, In world war 2 the spirit of the United Kingdom (Britain) was, “inspiration, courage and resolve” these came from the leader at that time Winston Churchhill, of whom it was said “epitomised what we mean when we talk about the British spirit.” (1) In the same way, The bible says the spirit comes from the father (John 15:26) and Jesus has sent it to us to represent him while he is gone (John 14:18, 26). The spirit or feeling of the kingdom of God is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.” (Gal 5:22) These are all characteristics of the father, the son and all who are part of the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

So in conclusion, I have learnt that it is important to look at “God” as the royal family of the universe, who are one in the sense that they are unified, who have different roles to fulfill in leading the inhabitants of the universe. The father, also known as God or the main ruler of this eternal family, is the head and director of everything which takes place. The son, Jesus is the prince who carries out all of the physical missions of the family, communicating to the universe the fathers directions. Then finally we have the Holy Spirit, the most mysterious part of the family who works everywhere to bring the feelings of peace, joy, love and the rest of the fruit to the entire kingdom (Rom 14:17). The key thing that makes these beings separate from all the other beings in the universe is that they have had their existence since eternity, they were never created and are the source of all things. In addition to this, they are all to be worshipped because they all played a part in our creation. In closing, the fact that the ruler of the universe is a small family, shows the importance of love and relationships in being the fundamental eternal purpose of the universe.

Note: I have placed a few texts below which I think will be useful for further study. They show examples of the Godhead in the bible and biblical evidence that Jesus is equal to God.

(1) <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1414274/Churchill-epitomised-the-British-spirit.html>

Examples of where we see the Godhead in the bible

Creation:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God [eloheim, (God’s in the plaural sense)] created the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved [Spirit] upon the face of the waters. Gen 1:3 And God said [the word Jesus], Let there be light: and there was light.

Sodom and Gomorrah:

Gen 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

• Jesus in the form of an angel came down to earth to speak to Abraham and destroy sodom and gomorrah, to destroy it, he called to the Lord, his father in heaven and God the father rained down fire from heaven.

Judgment Scene Daniel:

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man [Jesus]came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days [father], and they brought him near before him.

Baptism of Jesus:

Mat 3:16 And Jesus [Son] , when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God [spirit] descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven [father], saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Opening of the Seals:

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne [father] a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, [Jesus] hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [spirit] sent forth into all the earth.

The New Jerusalem:

Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God [Father] and of the Lamb [Jesus].

Biblical Evidence Jesus is Equal to God

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Php 2:5,6

Many Many people worshipped Jesus

Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Mat 8:2  And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

Mat 9:18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

Mat 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Mat 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. John 9:35-38

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. Mat 28:16,17

Mat 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

Humans only to worship God

Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. Act 10:25,26

Jesus’ comments showing he is the son of God

I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Joh 10:30,31

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Joh 8:58,59

Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Mat 16:15-17