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Introduction
There is a tendency in many churches to either under- or overemphasize the role and position of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. It is of tremendous importance that we understand the Truth in this regard, as it is revealed in the pages of the Bible. This booklet will show that God is a Family and a hierarchy, and this means, God the Father is the highest in the Godhead; He and Jesus Christ are NOT equal in authority. This understanding has tremendous importance for our daily Christian life.
Jesus Christ told us to pray to God the Father. He emphasized in the prayer outline in Matthew 6:9–13 that “the kingdom and the power and the glory” belong to the Father forever; that we should ask the Father to establish His Kingdom on earth; to give us our bread day by day; to forgive us our sins; to deliver us from evil; and that His Will be done on earth as in heaven.
Why is that the case? Why are we told to direct our prayers to God the Father?
Simply put, as we will show, because God the Father is the highest in the Godhead. There is no equality between the Father and Jesus Christ, as far as authority is concerned. God is a hierarchy—with God the Father on top and Jesus Christ under Him; and when we become born-again God Beings in the God Family, we will become part of that hierarchy by always being under God the Father and under Jesus Christ.
Why Does This Hierarchy Within the Godhead Exist?
Did Jesus Christ—the Son of God—willingly submit to the authority of God the Father which did not exist prior to His submission? The Bible does not imply that at all… and there does not seem to be a reason or justification for that conclusion.
Is the Father the highest because He created Christ as some believe? They say that Christ was the “beginning” [rather than the “beginner”] of God’s creation [compare Revelation 3:14]—that the Father created Christ before He created anything else. Apart from the fact that the Bible says that Jesus existed from all eternity and that He had no beginning (Hebrews 7:3; Micah 5:2), consider the consequences:
God created Lucifer as the “seal of perfection” (Ezekiel 28:12). If he was the seal of perfection—if God could not create anyone more perfect by fiat than Lucifer [“by fiat” describes a command with immediate fulfillment; “fiat” meaning, “let it be done”], would this mean then that Jesus was less perfect than Lucifer? And remember that Lucifer, in spite of his perfection, sinned (Isaiah 14:12–15: Ezekiel 28:15–16). So, IF Christ would have been created by the Father, by fiat, then there would have been no guarantee that He, as a God Being, would not have sinned, either. That would be truly a preposterous conclusion.
God had to go through the “process” of creating physical man and grant him a lifetime of overcoming in the flesh, to become more and more perfect in fighting against sin. Even Christ could have sinned as a Man, even though He had the Holy Spirit without measure from His conception, and He received extra powers to perform miracles at the baptism of John (Acts 10:37–38), but there was no guarantee that He, as a Man, could not have sinned. To assume then that Christ was created, by fiat, as a God being, unable to sin, defies logic.
The answer to our puzzlement is that the Bible simply does not reveal how God could have always been a hierarchy; and that the Father was always the Father and Jesus Christ was always the Son; but the Bible does not reveal either how God could have always existed. However, we know from the Holy Scriptures that this is so, and therefore, we have to accept it by faith (Hebrews 11:6).
We will now begin to prove from the pages of the Bible THAT God the Father is the highest, and we will show what the supremacy of the Father means for us.
The Father Is Greater Than Christ
Christ told His disciples that the Father is greater than He.
In John 14:28, Christ is quoted as saying:
“You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.”
John 10:27–29 adds:
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
In saying that the Father is greater than He and greater than all, Christ was addressing the hierarchy in the Godhead. He clearly expressed here that He was under God the Father’s authority.
The Father Is God the “Highest” or the MOST High
In respect to the Father, Christ said in Luke 6:35 (New King James Bible, copyright.1982):
“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”
We read that when Lucifer attempted to knock God off His throne, he wanted to be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). He wanted to usurp God the Father’s power and, in effect, replace Him. That is why it has been suggested that Lucifer said, in effect, that he wanted to be the “most high” ruler.
Demons know too that the Father is the Most High God, as we read in Luke 8:28:
“When he [a person possessed by a demon] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said [it was actually the demon speaking through the possessed man], ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!’”
Some Knew About God the Father
Even though Jesus came to reveal the Father to the Jews at His time and ultimately to the world at large (Matthew 11:27), this does not mean that the righteous people in Old Testament times did not know about the existence of the Father. For instance, David knew about and prayed to God the Father, the Most High God.
In Psalm 7:17, David said:
“I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”
Psalm 9:1–2 adds:
“… I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”
Psalm 57:1–2 states:
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.”
We should also note that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew about God the Father who was their God. Compare Acts 3:13:
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.”
So we see that the Father was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that the Father glorified His Son, Jesus Christ.
Undoubtedly, Moses knew about the existence of the Father and the Son, because he was inspired to write in Genesis 1:26 that God (the Father) said to the Son, Jesus Christ: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
John confirms this fact in the first verse of the first chapter of his book, where he states: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” continuing in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father.”
Christ was the only one begotten by God the Father, rather than by a human father. And the reference to the Word is clearly to Jesus Christ, the Word or Spokesman of the Father (Revelation 19:13; 1 John 1:1–3).
Also, Moses wrote in Genesis 1:1:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word for God is “Elohim,” describing here a plurality in the Godhead.
The High Priest Melchizedek
In addition, when Christ appeared as the High Priest Melchizedek in Old Testament times, He was recognized as “the priest of God Most High” and Abram recognized God as the “God Most High” as well. Note Genesis 14:18–23:
“Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave him a tithe of all… Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, “I have made Abram rich”’…”
Paul reiterated in Hebrews 7:1–3, 8, 24, that Melchizedek was and is the priest of the Most High God, and that He was and is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God:
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated ‘king of righteousness,’ and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘king of peace,’ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like [better: “is like”, compare revidierte Lutherbibel 2017] the Son of God, remains a priest continually… of whom it is witnessed that he lives… He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.”
In Daniel 7:13, Christ is described as “One like the Son of Man.” The word “like” does not refer here to similarity, but identity. As Christ was the Son of Man, so Melchizedek was the Son of God. But He was and is priest of the Most High God—God the Father.
God Gave Christ the Position of High Priest
The supremacy of God the Father in respect to Melchizedek (Jesus Christ) is also revealed by the fact that Christ became the High Priest of God the Father because God the Father gave Him that position. We read in Hebrews 5:1–10:
“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God… And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’…”
Compare also Hebrews 7:20–22:
“And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: ‘The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”’), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.”
It is obvious then that Christ is “under” the Father in authority since the Father GAVE or bestowed on HIM the office of High Priest.
The Father Is Christ’s God
The supremacy of the Father is also clearly revealed by the fact that Jesus referred to the Father as HIS God, and He did so even after His resurrection. We read in John 20:17:
“Jesus said to her [Mary Magdalene], ‘Do not cling to Me [better: Do not delay Me], for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”’”
He also reiterated this Truth in Revelation 3:12:
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.”
In this short statement to the church in Philadelphia, He emphasized four times that the Father was His God.
Christ never tried to usurp the authority of the Father. Even though Christ is clearly described as God (Titus 2:13), He always upheld the Father’s Supremacy. He said in John 17:3:
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Christ worshipped the Father as His God, but we do not read that the Father worshipped Jesus Christ as His God.
Christ Over All?
However, we read Paul’s statement in Romans 9:5 about Christ:
“… of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
But this does not mean that Christ is higher than the Father and that He is “over Him.” This is explained in 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 which again shows very clearly the subordinate role of the Son in comparison with the Father:
“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His 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.”
God the Father is the highest in the Godhead. Christ, under Him, is over all; that is, everything—all authority and power—is under God the Father and under Jesus Christ.
The Father Created Everything
We also read that God the Father created everything.
When high-ranking angelic beings approached God the Father on His throne in heaven, they declared (compare Revelation 4:9–11):
“Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.’”
Through Jesus Christ
But we also read that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ. Remember, God the Father had said to Christ: “Let US make man in OUR image.”
Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:8–10:
“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places…”
He confirms this Truth in Hebrews 1:1–3:
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Note these additional passages showing that Jesus sits at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens: Hebrews 8:1 and Hebrews 12:2).
Christ, “who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:34), is interceding on our behalf to God—showing that we must go through Jesus to be heard by God the Father, who makes the final decision.
Even though God the Father bestowed great powers on Christ, it still remains true that it was the Father—the Highest in the Godhead—who created everything, but He did so through Christ, the “Executor” of His Will. (Compare also John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:15–16.)
How the Father Created Everything
The Father revealed His Will to Christ to create; Christ then spoke, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, it was done. This “process” of creation can be seen in the following passages:
Psalm 148:5 states:
“Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.”
We will discuss later the fact that Christ only does what the Father commands Him. Here, the Father ordered Christ what to do; Christ spoke to carry out God’s Will, and by the power of the Holy Spirit (see discussion about the Holy Spirit later), creation occurred.
Psalm 33:6 adds:
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”
In the Hebrew, the word for “breath” and “spirit” is the same. And the “word of the LORD” is a reference to Jesus Christ, the Word or Spokesperson of God the Father.
Psalm 104:30 says:
“You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.” And so we read in Genesis 1:2–3:
“The earth was [became] without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
Following God the Father’s Will and command, Jesus Christ, the Word, carried out the creation through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God the Father Sent Jesus Christ to This Earth
God’s supremacy is also clearly revealed by the fact that it was the Father who sent Christ to save the world.
John 3:16–17 quotes Christ as follows:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Christ Our Savior
The Father sent Christ as the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). Christ is called THE Apostle—the One sent (Hebrews 3:1). He is identified as the Lamb of God—the Lamb of God the Father (John 1:36).
Jesus is clearly identified as our Savior (compare 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6; 2 Peter 1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:18; 1 John 4:14).
The Father Our Savior
But it was the Father who sent Christ to become our Savior. Therefore, the Bible refers to God the Father many times as our Savior as well (see 1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 3:4).
Christ continues in John 8:42: “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’”
The Purpose for Christ’s Coming
Christ certainly was sent to die for us, thereby paying the penalty for our sins. But this was not the only reason or purpose for which He came and for which He was sent by the Father.
He was sent and came to fulfill the Law—to magnify it and make it more honorable—to show us how to keep it (Isaiah 42:21; Matthew 5:17).
He was sent and came to call sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13).
He was sent and came to save which was lost (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10) and to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).
He was sent and came to serve us and die for us (Matthew 20:28).
He was sent and came to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:43).
He was sent and came for judgment, that those who don’t see [physically] may see [physically and spiritually], and those who see [physically] may be made blind [spiritually] (John 9:39).
He was sent and came to tell the Truth, confessing that He was born to be the King (John 18:37).
He was sent and came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
He was sent and came to make known to us the Father (1 John 5:19–20).
He was sent and came to do the Father’s Will, by dying for us and sanctifying us and doing away with the need for animal sacrifices (Hebrews 10:5–10). (However, animal sacrifices will again accompany worship at the Temple of God in Jerusalem during the beginning of the millennial rule of Jesus on the earth, but only the Sacrifice of Christ was, is and will be accepted for the forgiveness of sins (compare Ezekiel, chapters 40–46). For a discussion why temporary millennial sacrifices will be given at all, and by whom, please read pages 47–52 of our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”)
Also, Paul tells us in Romans 8:3–4 about one other important purpose for Christ’s First Coming:
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Christ was sent to condemn sin in the flesh, showing it was and is possible to overcome sin. His Sacrifice paid for our past sins. The Father forgave us our sins which we had previously committed. Christ’s death justified us and reconciled us to God the Father. (More about reconciliation later). We read in Romans 5:8–10:
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
We shall be saved by His life because He lives in us through the Holy Spirit. The righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us when we allow Christ to live His life in us, giving us the faith and the strength that we can and will overcome sin. And when we sin, we repent and obtain forgiveness, and the blood of Christ purifies and cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7, 9). This is how we are justified again, and we can continue to live righteously by keeping the Law and rejecting sin.
As Christ overcame sin, so must we. And as the Father helped Him through the power of the Holy Spirit within Him to live righteously, so we are being helped through the Holy Spirit in us to do likewise. But the Father did not do everything for Christ, and so we must make every effort to stay righteous with God, by not sinning.
Christ Spoke the Words of the Father
The supremacy of the Father over Christ is also shown by the fact that Christ only said what the Father commanded Him to say.
In John 3:34, John the Baptist gives the following testimony about Christ:
“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give [Him] the Spirit by measure.”
While God gives newly baptized members of the Church only a small portion or measure of His Spirit, He bestowed the fullness of His Holy Spirit on Christ. He did not give Him the Spirit by measure.
Christ confirmed that He only spoke the words of the Father, establishing that the Father constitutes the highest authority.
In John 14:10, Christ says: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority…”
In John 14:24, He adds: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
In His prayer to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ said in John 17:8:
“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.”
The Father Taught Christ His Words
It is a most amazing revelation that Christ spoke the words of the Father because the Father taught Him what to say. This shows again the supremacy of the Father and Christ’s submission to the Father.
Christ said in John 8:26–28:
“‘I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.’ They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.’”
Again, we read in John 8:38, 40:
“I speak what I have seen with My Father… But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.”
Continuing in John 12:49–50:
“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Further, here are Christ’s words to His apostles in John 15:15:
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
Christ also said in John 7:16–17:
“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”
This is good advice for us today as well. Many times, people question whether the Bible is God’s Word; and whether the teaching of the Church of the Eternal God is correct. They can prove it to themselves by beginning to do what the Bible and God’s Church teach, and they will see that it IS God’s Word which is living and powerful.
One might argue that Christ’s statements only applied to Him in His physical state. But it should be obvious that the Father told Him what He would have to say BEFORE He became a human being. In addition, note that even in His glorified state, Christ receives and passes on the words of the Father. We read in Revelation 1:1–2:
“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, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.”
Christ Did What the Father Commanded Him to Do
The supremacy of the Father is not only shown by Christ saying the words which the Father commanded Him to say, but also doing and carrying out what the Father had commanded Him to do. That is especially true for creation (discussed earlier in this booklet) and His role as our Savior.
It was the Father commanding Him to become a Man, living in the flesh and dying for us, but Christ did it gladly and willingly for the joy of seeing us becoming His glorified brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God (Hebrews 12:2).
We must not misunderstand the relationship between the Father and the Son by assuming that there was in any way hesitancy of Christ to do what the Father wanted Him to do. As we will see, there has always been complete harmony and unity between the Father and the Son.
Christ said in John 10:17–18:
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
The Father Decides the Time of Christ’s Return
The fact that God the Father constitutes the highest authority in the Godhead can also be seen in that it is the Father who will decide when to send His Son back to the earth.
We read Christ’s words in Matthew 24:36, when addressing the time of His return:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
He confirmed this in Acts 1:6–7:
“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’”
It is within the Father’s sole authority to decide when to send His Son back to this earth.
Christ’s Sacrifice Bought People for the Father
The supremacy of God the Father is also shown by the fact that we are HIS property.
We read that Christ is the Head of the Church, His spiritual body, but it is still the Church of God the Father. It is the Father who gives His children to Christ as the Administrator and Executor, so to speak (Hebrews 2:13; John 6:37; John 17:6); and we cannot come to Christ unless the Father draws us to Him (John 6:44). Likewise, no one comes to the Father except through Christ (John 14:6); and salvation is only in and through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
We read in Revelation 5:9–10 the following about Jesus Christ, the slain Lamb:
“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us [or: bought us or purchased us, compare Acts 20:28] to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
We also read this in Revelation 1:5–6, also showing again that God the Father was and is the God of Jesus:
“Jesus Christ [is] the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Compare also 1 Corinthians 6:20 which reads:
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
We are the property of God the Father who is also the God of Jesus Christ. Note Ephesians 1:17: “… the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
We also read in 2 Corinthians 6:16–18:
“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.’”
God Is a Family
In this context, it is important to realize that God is a Family. The Father is the HIGHEST in the God Family. The Son is under Him, and we are to become holy and members of His Family.
Ephesians 3:14–15 says: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,”
Hebrews 2:10–13 reads:
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’”
The New International Version renders verse 11: “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family”.
Hebrews 12:10 tells us that God the Father disciplines us so “that we may be partakers of His holiness.”
The Father Gives Us the Kingdom
The fact that God is a Family can also be described as God being a Kingdom—the Kingdom of God. It shows that God is a ruling Family. And the Father wants us to become part of His Kingdom.
In Luke 12:32, we read:
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
And while God wants to give us His Kingdom, He decides what positions we will have in the Kingdom, as Christ confirmed in Matthew 20:20–23:
“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’’
Further Proof for the Father’s Supremacy
It is the Father who has given Christ “authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:26–27). He went through what we are going through; He understands what it means to live a life in the flesh. He was tempted in all things as we are, but He stayed sinless (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore, He can be our merciful Judge.
Resurrection of the Dead
The Father has even given Christ authority to assist Him in resurrecting the dead.
First, we learn that it is the Father who will resurrect us. 1 Corinthians 6:14 says:
“And God [the Father] both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.”
Romans 8:11 adds:
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead [God the Father] will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who [better: which or that, compare Authorized Version] dwells in you.”
But note how the resurrection will occur.
2 Corinthians 4:14 says:
“… He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with [Authorized Version: “by”] Jesus, and will present us with you.”
God the Father will resurrect us through Jesus Christ. John 5:21 reads:
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
John 6:39–40 adds to this:
“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Taking all these Scriptures together, we see that the Father will resurrect the dead through Jesus Christ. Christ would never act in any way contrary to the Father’s Will. And so, when He resurrects someone to eternal life, it is in accordance with the Father’s Will as well. It is still the Father who directs it, but He does it through or by Jesus Christ.
It is the Father who will reward us (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18; while Christ brings with Him the reward when He returns, Revelation 22:12).
When people see our good works, they will finally praise the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16), recognizing Him as the highest authority in the Godhead.
It is the Father who gives us good things (Matthew 7:11) and wisdom (James 1:5).
Further, as we already saw, it is the Father who forgives us our sins (Matthew 6:14); and it is the Father who reveals hidden things to “babes” (Matthew 11:25–26)—those with a humble and teachable attitude who do not think of themselves higher than they ought to think.
And so, we are told that we should come boldly to the Father’s throne of grace in time of need, knowing that we have a great High Priest, Advocate, Helper, Comforter and Mediator in Jesus Christ who sympathizes with our weaknesses (compare again Hebrews 4:15–16).
It is through Christ that we believe in God the Father (1 Peter 1:17–21). And it is through Christ that we do the Will of God the Father (Hebrews 13:20–21). Even our belief in the Father and our actions come through Christ. Christ gives us that belief and the power to act in accordance with God’s Will.
This brings us to the all-important question of Christ’s role as our Mediator—the One who represents us before God the Father, the Highest in the Godhead.
Christ Is Our Mediator
We read in 1 Timothy 2:5:
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
This shows that the Father is the One with the highest ruling and decision-making authority who is being approached by Christ, on our behalf, to plead our case. But it also shows that we need Christ as our Mediator, and we also read that there is no salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
In What Way Is Christ Our Mediator?
To show the exact role of Christ as our Mediator, we need to focus on the fact that we are told to pray to God the Father “in Christ’s name.”
In Christ’s Name
John 16:23–24 says that whatever we ask the Father in Christ’s name, the Father will give it to us, and when we ask in Christ’s name, we will receive it:
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
In John 14:13–14, we read that whatever we ask in Christ’s name, Christ will do it:
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
We see, then, that the Father does it through Christ! Simply put, the Father gives what we asked for to Christ, and Christ passes it on to us.
But when we pray to the Father in Christ’s name, it not only means that the Father works through Christ in response to our prayer, but also that we acknowledge Christ’s role and function while we pray, expecting Christ to do something while we pray. In general, when we pray to God in the name of Christ, we are praying through Christ—expecting Christ to back us up, support us, and do something in regard to what we say.
When we pray or say something in the name of Christ, we say it, not only with or by His authority, but we actually speak through Christ—and Christ speaks through us.
When we pray to the Father in the name of Christ, we are, in a sense, asking Christ to plead our case to the Father. We are representatives of Christ—representing Christ as though Christ was pleading through us to God the Father. It is as if Christ is praying to the Father for us. He is our Mediator, our Intercessor and our Advocate.
Christ lives in us, and when we pray in the name of Christ, it is actually Christ who gives us the mind to say the right things, and it is He who even communicates to the Father what we might have wanted to say—but we could not find the right way to express the words.
How, then, do we understand John 16:26–27, which says: “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.”?
Christ’s intercession is not for the purpose of awakening or stirring up God the Father’s love; it is however, at times, for the purpose of re-emphasizing the fact that we are flesh and blood human beings who are weak and feeble; and that Jesus lived as a man and experienced how it is to be tempted in the flesh in all things, while overcoming sin in the flesh and staying sinless (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 4:15).
Christ was saying, in effect: It is not that the Father does not love you. He does love you, because you have loved Me. At the same time, Christ IS our Mediator, and it is His role, as the One who HAD BEEN MAN, and can therefore sympathize with our weaknesses, to speak to the Father on our behalf.
When we speak to the Father through the living Jesus Christ in us, it is actually Christ who is inspiring us and who is doing the speaking. For instance, Christ even said that He, through the Holy Spirit, will inspire us to say what we ought in times of persecution (compare Luke 21:14–15; 12:11–12).
Christ is speaking through us, and we are speaking through Christ. After all, Christ lives in us (2 Corinthians 13:5). Christ lived in Paul, and Paul lived by the faith of Christ (Galatians 2:20, Authorized Version), even when he spoke to people and when he prayed to God. Notice 2 Corinthians 13:3: “… since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.” As Christ lived in Paul, He was speaking through and for Paul.
So again, when we pray to the Father in the name of Christ, we do it through Christ. In a sense, we ask Christ to communicate our prayers, in their intended way, to the Father.
Christ Intercedes for Us
Now notice Hebrews 7:25:
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Continuing in Hebrews 9:24:
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…”
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
This brings us to Christ’s role as our Mediator in conjunction with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Christ promises His disciples the following, in John 14:16–17:
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Who is that Helper (or Comforter, or Advocate or the One who makes intercession)? Some claim it is the “Person” of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not a person. When reading the next verse (verse 18), it is obvious whom Christ has reference to:
“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
Christ is the Comforter or Helper who will come to dwell in His disciples through His Spirit which emanates from Him. And it is HE—not the “Person” of the Holy Spirit—who intercedes for us as our Mediator.
We read in Romans 8:26:
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Whom does Paul make reference to, when speaking of the Spirit? We read in Romans 8:33–34:
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
Please note that Christ is identified as a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). And in 2 Corinthians 3:14–18, we read:
“But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The New International Version and the Revised Standard Version say here: “… which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
1 John 2:1 confirms that it is Christ who speaks to the Father on our behalf; that is, when we pray, it is Christ who speaks through us and for us to the Father:
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The Father Gives Us the Holy Spirit
It is the Father who sends the Holy Spirit, as Luke 11:13 points out:
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Also notice Galatians 4:6:
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”
We see here that God the Father sent the Spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ, into our hearts, and because it is the Spirit of His Son, we can call God our Father.
Through Christ
John 14:26 shows too that it is the FATHER who sends the Holy Spirit, but note how it is done:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
“In My Name” means here “through Me,” that is, “I will do it on behalf of My Father.”
In this passage and in the following passages, the New King James Bible associates “the Spirit” with the word “who,” rather than with the word “which.” It depends, though, whether the particular passage refers to the Holy Spirit emanating from the Father and/or the Son, then the word “which” should be used, or whether the reference is to the Spirit, Jesus Christ, then the use of the word “who” would be correct, insofar as the meaning is concerned.
Christ says in John 15:26:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
In Acts 2:33, Peter states about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit:
“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Jesus] poured out this which you now see and hear.”
Also notice Titus 3:4–6:
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared… He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior…”
The Father and the Son Live in Us
So, as God the Father created everything through Christ, He gives us the Holy Spirit through Christ. But in effect, it is the Holy Spirit of the Father and of Christ that dwell in us. To put it in a different way, both the Father and Christ live in us through the Holy Spirit emanating from both God beings.
We read in John 14:23:
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.’”
Romans 8:9–11 shows that the Father and the Son live in us through their Holy Spirit—the Spirit of the Father and the Son which, like air, is or can be everywhere:
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
One Spirit
There is ONE Spirit, but both God the Father and Jesus Christ are Spirit Beings, and the Holy Spirit emanates from both of them. That is why we read about the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ. When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Christ did not mean that the Father and He were “one” Being—but that they were “one” in purpose and goal and mindset and character.
When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate Person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.
The Bible teaches that both the Father and the Son live in converted Christians. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. The Father gives us OF His Holy Spirit (1 John 4:12–13; compare also Acts 2:17), through or in the name of Jesus Christ—Christ being the only Mediator between God the Father and man. In addition, the Father also pours out into us, through Christ, OF the Spirit of Christ; that is, Christ pours out His Spirit into us by the Will of the Father, and so both the Father and the Son abide, dwell or live in us through the Holy Spirit emanating from both of them and given to us by the Father, through Christ.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. It is God’s power (Luke 4:14; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). It was through the power of God the Father’s Holy Spirit that Mary was impregnated with Jesus (Luke 1:32, 35; note that that power is described as the power of the HIGHEST) and through which Jesus was able to perform miracles (Acts 10:38). When Jesus was a Man, only the Spirit of God the Father dwelt in Him. To be able to bestow God’s Spirit on others, one must be a glorified God Being (John 7:37–39).
This World Is Cut Off From God the Father
But something has to happen first before we can even obtain the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We saw earlier that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:16 confirms this, stating that “all things”—visible and invisible—were created “by” and “through” Jesus Christ. John 1:1–3 tells us too that “all things” were made through the Word—the Logos—Jesus Christ; and Hebrews 1:1–2; 2:10 adds that God the Father made “the worlds” or the entire universe and ‘all things” ‘through” Jesus Christ.”
This shows that it was Jesus Christ who created Adam and Eve, carrying out the Will of God the Father.
The Jews at the time of Christ did not know—and most still don’t know today—that God is a Family, presently consisting of two God beings. Remember 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, who directly worked with and dealt with Israel, was Jesus Christ—not God the Father.
We read in John 1:18 that “no one has seen God at any time” (compare John 6:46 and 1 John 4:12). John 5:37 confirms that “you have neither heard His [the Father’s] voice at any time, nor seen His form.” But Moses saw the glorified form of the LORD (Numbers 12:8).
People did hear a voice from heaven, speaking about Jesus. This was not the voice of the Father, but of an angel, quoting the words of the Father. An example of an angel uttering the words of God can be found in Revelation 22:8–16.
People Saw and Heard Jesus Christ in Old Testament Times
Still, we read that God did appear to the ancient Israelites. They did hear His voice many times. Some even saw the form of God, to an extent, in His glorified state. This means, they saw and talked to Christ, not the Father.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God cut them off from access to the Tree of Life, which symbolized the Holy Spirit and with it, spiritual understanding. In addition, all mankind was cut off from such access except for those being specifically predestined to be called prior to Christ’s return.
Mankind was allowed, under the sway and deception of Satan, to create his own societies, which are ALL in opposition to God’s Way of Life. Today, the entire world is under Satan’s rule.
Adam and Eve’s sin DID do something to this world. Due to Adam and Eve’s conduct, humanity was cut off “from God” in the sense that they would not have access to the Holy Spirit and with it, godly understanding, unless specifically drawn and chosen by God the Father to be brought to Christ (John 6:44, 65).
Even though mankind was cut off from God with respect to the Holy Spirit and access to God, we also saw that Jesus Christ DID deal and work with humans, including the nations of Israel and Judah. Christ did not deal with them by offering them access to the Holy Spirit and an opportunity for salvation (this will occur later, in the Great White Throne judgment period), but He DID speak to them and showed Himself to them. It was Christ who spoke the Ten Commandments to the ancient Israelites—not the Father. He was the Rock who led Israel out of Egypt and dealt with them in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4, 9).
And even though Christ—as the Spokesman—acted on behalf of the Father, most did not even understand that the Father existed. That is why Christ, when He came as a Man, had to reveal the Father to the average Jews.
No Access to God the Father
It is important to realize that Adam and Eve’s sin cut them and mankind [in general] off from access to God the Father, the HIGHEST of the Godhead, as well as the knowledge as to who God the Father and Jesus Christ are. The Father did not deal directly with mankind, and He was not generally worshipped by the overwhelming majority, including those who read but did not understand the Scriptures.
Reconciliation With the Father
As mankind has been cut off from God the Father, we need to be reconciled to God the Father. But we all have sinned, and sin, not repented of, cuts us off from God the Father.
Lamentations 3:40–44 says:
“Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord; Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.”
Daniel 9:4–19 says:
“… (4) I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, (5) we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments… (10) We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. (11) Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. (13) As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth… (19) O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
But also note Daniel 9, verse 24, which quotes the angel Gabriel speaking to Daniel:
“Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.”
Isaiah 59:1–4 says:
‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They: trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”
But see also verse 20:
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD.”
Reconciliation With the Father Through the Death of Jesus
We become reconciled to the Father through the death of His Son; His death atones for our sins, upon our repentance and belief in His Sacrifice.
Romans 5:8–11 says:
“God [the Father] demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
This reconciliation was symbolized by the fact that, when Christ died, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), showing that it was God the Father who had it done and that contact with Him, through Jesus Christ, had now become possible.
The word “reconciliation” has several meanings. It can describe establishing contact or a connection with someone; creating unity and friendship, harmony and peace, as well as satisfaction. God the Father was deeply satisfied with Christ’s Sacrifice in the sense that He considered it necessary, but also totally sufficient to pay for the sins of mankind.
Ephesians 2:13–16 reads:
“… But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
Colossians 1:21–23 reads:
“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Before our reconciliation with God the Father, we were His enemies [note again Romans 5:10]. But due to the death of Christ which “justified” us, we became the Father’s friends and we have now “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access [to God the Father] by faith into this grace [which is unmerited pardon, favor and forgiveness of sin]” (Romans 5:1–2).
1 John 4:7–11 reads:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. (10) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
“Propitiation” can mean “sin offering” or “atonement”; the New International Version writes “atoning sacrifice.”
Romans 3:21–26 says:
“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God, through faith in [ AV: of] Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, [AV: through faith in His blood] to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
In verse 25, “propitiation” is rendered by the New International Version as “sacrifice of atonement”; and the New Jerusalem Bible says: “God appointed Him as a sacrifice for reconciliation”
Need of Continuing Reconciliation With the Father
True Christians need the continuing atonement and reconciliation with God the Father, as we sin after baptism as well.
1 John 1:5–10 reads:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
There is no one who does not sin… even after baptism.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 states:
“For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.”
1 Kings 8:46–50 says:
“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them.”
Proverbs 20:9 asks the question:
“Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin’?”
This is why we need continuing reconciliation with God the Father. When we slip and sin, we can repent and obtain forgiveness by the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7, 9). But this does not mean that we can again adopt, live and practice the way of this world which is cut off from God (2 Peter 2:20–22). If we do this and become again friends of this world, then we make ourselves again enemies of God (James 4:4).
Reconciliation of the Whole World
As the whole world is cut off from God the Father, but as the Father gave His only begotten Son to save the world (John 3:16), the whole world will become reconciled with God the Father through the death of His Son.
Hebrews 2:17 reads:
“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
The Authorized Version says: “to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”
1 John 2:1–2 reads:
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
“Propitiation” can describe here God the Father’s satisfaction for the whole world due to Christ’s Sacrifice; The New International Version says: “atoning sacrifice.”
Romans 11:11–15 states this about the relationship between Israelites and Gentiles:
“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
2 Corinthians 5:18–20 confirms that the world will be reconciled with God the Father:
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
Repentance Necessary
But repentance is necessary. If we refuse to repent and hate God’s Way of Life, even though we knew and had understood the Truth, no atonement and reconciliation is possible.
Isaiah 22:14 says:
“Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts, ‘Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,’ says the LORD God of hosts.”
This passage describes people who are unwilling to repent. The Bible speaks in that regard as committing the unpardonable sin—a final hateful decision of rejecting God the Father and the Sacrifice of His Son, as well as the power of God’s Holy Spirit to help us change and to live God’s Way of Life. When committing the unpardonable sin, no forgiveness, satisfaction, harmony, unity, peace or reconciliation with God the Father is possible any longer.
Hebrews 10:26–27, 29 says:
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries… Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Hebrews 6:4–6 adds:
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
Exodus 32:30–33 adds:
“Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, ‘You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, ‘Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.’ And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’”
God makes reference here to the unpardonable sin, as discussed above.
Let us note in this regard Revelation 20:14–15:
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Our names are taken out of the Book of Life, when we commit the unpardonable sin. When that happens, we will be destroyed in the lake of fire.
But for the overwhelming majority, the Bible tells us this:
Revelation 3:5:
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Overcoming includes repentance and belief.
Proverbs 16:6 says:
“In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.”
Psalm 79:9 adds:
“Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!”
Finally, we read that God provides atonement for Israel and the entire world.
Ezekiel 16:62–63:
“And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,’ says the LORD God.’”
This atonement and the accompanying reconciliation with God the Father are accomplished through the shedding of the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:17–19). We were redeemed to the Father by Christ’s blood (Revelation 5:9).
Conclusion
Through His ultimate and supreme Sacrifice, Christ provided atonement for the forgiveness of our sins, but we must accept it and believe in it. And with accepting that atonement, we become reconciled with God the Father, the HIGHEST in the God Family.
This reconciliation makes it possible for us to walk with God—the Father and the Son—becoming more and more perfect (2 Corinthians 7:1) as God the Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), so that we can ultimately partake of His holiness and enter His Family and Kingdom as His born-again sons and daughters.
That is why we ought to pray daily to the Father, the Most High God: “Your Kingdom Come.”
