We believe in God the Father, eternally existing, Jesus Christ His Son through whom He created all things, and the Holy Spirit as the power of God.
No subject is more essential to the True Christian Faith than the existence of God and the manner of His existence. At the same time, no subject is more theologically divisive among Christians, as varied concepts have been put forth to explain what many have deemed to be unexplainable. Those contrasting explanations are largely the result of concepts drawn from pre-existing religions with Biblical revelations interpreted into them.
From its founding in the post-ascension era, the Church of God has struggled to maintain a true and faithful rendition of the words of the New Testament and those of its LORD and Savior as He originally inspired it. The reader is called upon to maintain a mind separated from all the various opinions put forth by the religions of this world and allow the words of Scripture to say what they say.
Many who strive to understand the profound Nature of their Creator and the Sustainer of our limitless universe find themselves confounded by those “Orthodox” doctrines put forth after the early third century of the Christian Era. Is God a single Being, are there two distinct persons, are there three Beings in a single Godhead, or is there a single Being who manifests Himself in any of three separate hypostases? What did the Apostles Peter and Paul and the early Church understand?
What We Will Consider:
- That there are two Divine Beings in the Godhead -- the Father and the Son. Both exist and have co-existed together eternally from before the beginning of time. (John 1:1-5 & John 17:5)
- That the Father never divested Himself of His extreme Glory, but the other Being, who was God also, willingly became the Son, divesting Himself of His Glorified state to become human in order to become their sacrifice for sin. (Phil. 2:6-9) It was this ‘second Being’ who dealt with humanity from the time of Adam. This realization is also theologically profound.
- The Spirit of God is the Power by which God exists and by which He continually sustains all of Creation -- material and non-material, animate and inanimate.
God the Father: He is the Supreme Being in the Universe, limitless in Power and brilliant Glory, emanating a radiance that would incinerate any mortals approaching His Presence. (1st Tim. 6:16) John 5:37 tells us that He is the Father of all Creation, the Sustainer of all that exists and that NO man has seen His image nor heard His voice at any time. That fact in itself creates a profound contrast with commonly held beliefs. The Father was largely unknown to the ancient peoples of Israel until the Son came and revealed Him. (Matt. 11:27 & Luke 10:26)
Jesus the Son: Having eternally existed with God, and was God, He was the Divine Word from the beginning. He personally interacted with mankind from the time of Adam, dealt with the patriarchs of old, led the children of Israel out of Egypt, gave the Law at Mount Sinai, spoke with Moses face to face, and provided manna in the wilderness. Jesus was a Being who willfully chose to become a mortal human, divesting Himself of His Glorified co-existence in Spirit form that He shared with His Father in order to become the propitiation for the sins of all mankind. At the appropriate time, He became flesh in order to shed His blood for the salvation of all of humanity. Providing salvation for those who truly repent, believe on Him, call upon His name and accept the application of His shed blood in full payment for their sins.
Most of professing Christianity are generally familiar with these basics. However, it is not generally understood that the Being who came into the world as the Son of God, born of a virgin, was one-and-the-same Being who was known to men of ancient times as the LORD God of the Old Testament. Emanuel, “God with us”, was the long prophesied Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) He was the very same One who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, ate with and Covenanted with Abram, wrestled with Jacob, and manifested Himself to Moses in both ‘normal’ appearance (Ex. 33:11) and in ‘semi-glorified’ form on one unique occasion. (Ex. 33:18 thru 34:8) (God the Father never divested Himself of His Glory!) It was Jesus also who exhibited a similar glorified form to His Apostles, Peter, James and John, being transfigured before them. (Mk. 9:2)
The Holy Spirit: It is how people conceive of God’s Spirit that largely accounts for the differences within the world of Christian theology. Devout theologians of the late third and early fourth centuries debated issues which are still largely unresolved to the