As we explained in previous Q&As, (Who Was Jesus When On Earth?, What Was Jesus Before His Birth as a Man?, and Is Jesus God?) Jesus Christ–the Word or Logos or Son of God–was “WITH” God since all eternity, and He also “WAS” God. The difficulty in understanding this fact may be easily resolved when we recognize that the word “God” is a NAME that can refer to both the Father and the Son. It is, in fact, a FAMILY name. Ephesians 3:14–15 confirms this truth, telling us that it is “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole FAMILY in heaven and earth is NAMED.”
Note, too, how the New International Version renders Hebrews 2:11: “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy ARE of the same FAMILY.”
In addition, the German Menge Bible includes in the annotation to Ephesians 2:19 that the term “household of God” means “members of the FAMILY of God” (in German, “Mitglieder der Gottesfamilie”).
In a subsequent Q&A, we will discuss the awesome and little-understood truth that it is man’s potential to ENTER the very FAMILY of God.
Most people do not realize that God IS a Family. However, the Bible clearly reveals this truth.
For instance, in the Hebrew, the word for “God” is many times “Elohim,” but it is a word with plural meaning. That is the reason why we read that God (“Elohim”) said in Genesis 1:26 : “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.” And God also said in Genesis 3:22: “Behold the man has become like one of US, to know good and evil…”
Please note what we wrote in our free booklet, “God Is a Family”:
“The very Hebrew word translated ‘God’ in Genesis 1:26 reveals that God consists of more than one person. That Hebrew word is ‘Elohim,’ which can be used as a plural word. It can be singular in grammar, but plural in meaning. For example, some English words that are singular in grammar are ‘church,’ ‘club,’ ‘family,’ ‘school,’ ‘government,’ or ‘nation.’ However, these words are all plural in meaning, or at least, the plural meaning is included… Unless there is more than one person, it is not considered a family, or a nation, or a church, etc.
“The same is true for the Hebrew word ‘Elohim.’ Grammatically, it can be a singular word, but it can have a plural meaning… many commentaries… explain that the Hebrew word ‘Elohim’ is the plural form of the singular Hebrew words ‘El’ or ‘Eloah,’ concluding that many theologians have understood this to refer to a plurality within the Godhead… there are several words in the Hebrew, all ending with ‘-im,’ which are derived from a grammatically singular word that conveys plural meaning. One of these words is ‘Cherubim,’ the plural form of ‘Cherub.’… Other words are… ‘mayim,’ meaning ‘water.’ The concept of water, in particular, is very interesting, as it can refer to a single drop of water or to a vast ocean. We understand though that it is the same kind of water in either case, and it is always referred to as ‘water.’ In that sense, water is both singular and plural… the same is true for the word ‘Elohim’…
“We also need to remember that the word ‘Elohim,’ or ‘God,’ can refer to either one of the two beings in the Godhead. Each one is called, and referred to as ‘Elohim,’ or ‘God.’ In Genesis 1:26, God, or ‘Elohim,’ says, ‘Let US make man in OUR image.’ One God being speaks to the other God being, referring to both of them as ‘Us’… and we… know from the New Testament that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ.”
This truth that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ is confirmed in many New Testament Scriptures (Compare Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 1:1-2; Colossians 1:16). In this regard, please review again our previous Q&A’s, quoted above.
Continuing with our booklet, “God Is A Family”:
“God the Father said to Christ, ‘Let Us make man in Our image’… It was Christ, then, who did the actual work of creating man, and He created man in His image. Remember, though, that Christ is also the image of the Father (compare 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 and Colossians 1:15). Therefore, when Christ created man in His image, He also created man in the image of the Father. [Note, too, that Christ told His disciple Philip in John 14:9: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son look the same.] Man, then, was created in the image of GOD—in the image of both God the Father and God the Son…
“Ecclesiastes 12:1 reads, ‘Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.’ In the original Hebrew, the word for ‘Creator’ is in the plural, which should be translated as ‘Creators.’ Both the Father and the Son are Creators. God the Father created everything, including man, through Jesus Christ…
“We find a similar statement in Job 35:10, ‘But no one says, Where is God my Maker…?’ In the original, it says, ‘Where is God my Makers?’…”
It is also interesting to note, in this context, that BOTH the Father AND the Son dwell IN a converted Christian (John 14:23) through the Holy Spirit, which emanates from BOTH the Father AND the Son (Romans 8:9; John 14:26; Galatians 4:6). In a subsequent Q&A, we will discuss who and what IS the Holy Spirit.
We have already pointed out in previous Q&As, quoted above, that Jesus Christ was the “I am”– the Eternal or Ever-living One. HE was the God of the Old Testament, dealing directly with the people, speaking to them and even manifesting Himself to them. It had to be Christ who did this, because He Himself said that no one has ever seen the form of “God” (the Father) or heard the voice of God (the Father). (Compare again John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46; 1 John 4:12).
The Jews thought that they worshipped the Father, erroneously thinking that He was the God of the Old Testament. That is why we read that Christ came to REVEAL the Father to them (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22). The Jews thought they knew the Father, not realizing that the God of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ—not God the Father.
It is important to understand, however, that God the Father is, always was and always will be the HIGHEST in the Godhead. As we state in our booklet, “God Is A Family”:
“In fact, we read that God the Father created everything THROUGH Jesus Christ—so the highest God being created everything, including the spiritual world, through a God being ‘lower’ than He.”
Jesus confirmed this fact when He stated in John 14:28: “The Father is greater than I.” After His resurrection, He told Mary: “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to MY GOD and your God” (John 20:17). In Ephesians 1:17, Paul refers to the Father as the “GOD of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And Luke 1:32 refers to Christ as the Son of the HIGHEST.
Note, for additional proof, the following statements in our free booklet, “God Is a Family:”
“It is He [Christ] who created man, but in doing so, He followed the instruction of God the Father, who is the Highest in the God Family (compare 1 Corinthians 3:23; 1 Corinthians 11: 3; 1 Corinthians 15:20–28; John 14:28)… Several decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we find a statement that was recorded by John, an apostle of Jesus Christ: ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which GOD GAVE HIM to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John’ (Revelation 1:1). Jesus is not doing this by Himself. Rather, the revelation is received from God the Father, and Christ, as Spokesman for the Family of God, then sends it through His angel to John.
“We read in 1 Corinthians 15:24, 27–28, ‘Then comes the end, when He [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father… For “He [the Father] has put all things under His [Christ’s] feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.’” The head of Christ is and will be—and always has been—God the Father…”
The understanding that God the Father is the HIGHEST within the God Family is also important for the reason that we are commanded to pray to God the Father. As we point out in our free booklet, “Teach Us to Pray”:
“Jesus teaches that we should address our prayers to the Father… When Jesus and His disciples had come to a certain city in Samaria, He discussed the subject of worship with a Gentile woman from the area. Jesus stated: ‘… the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’ (John 4:21-24)…
“He told His disciples that, following His death and resurrection, they were to pray to the Father–asking in the name of Jesus Christ (compare John 15:16; 16:23). Jesus opened the way for His followers to pray directly to the Father…
“The Book of Hebrews… reveals that Jesus Christ opened the way to the Father, and that He continues as High Priest on our behalf when we come before God the Father in prayer… As the Scriptures show, Christ Himself directed us to pray to the Father—the HIGHEST BEING in the God Family.”
Both the Father and the Son have been GOD–members within the God FAMILY–since all eternity. And as we will discuss in subsequent Q&As, it is the Will of GOD to enlarge His Family–through man.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
