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A. GOD IS ONE PERSON:
Scriptural Reference:
“…Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…” (Hebrews 1:3).
There is a difference of understanding in the definition of the word “person.” Some understand person to mean the body or appearance, the visible expression. If we accept this definition then clearly the Father is not a person for He is Spirit.
On the other hand, others understand person to be associated with personality, individuality, self-consciousness, self-determination, etc. If we accept this definition then the Father is a person. However, this still will not make two or three persons in the Godhead. There is only one God, and only one personality of Deity. This personality is the one and same whether seen as Jehovah in the Old Testament or as Jesus in the New Testament.
The Scriptural reference given, Hebrews 1:3, is the only place in the Bible that the word “person” is given when referring to the Godhead or Deity. In the Greek this Scripture reads, “the expression of his substance.” In the Amplified New Testament we read, “He is the perfect imprint and very image of (God’s) nature.”
The conclusion is that the word “person” is not actually a proper word to use when referring to Deity, but rather we should use the terms, “substance, nature, being, etc.”
B. GOD HAS PERSONALITY:
Scriptural Reference:
“And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:3).
It is very important that we have a clear understanding on this truth for if we go wrong here, it will definitely lead to further misunderstanding. It is very easy to miss the true revelation and to turn to one extreme or the other. We should pray that the Lord will enable us to remain solidly established in the very center of revealed Truth.
In both the Old Testament and New Testament man is able to have fellowship with God. Man is able to talk to God and have communion with His Maker. We must never think of God as being just an impersonal force or influence. He is a personal God who loved us and manifested Himself in flesh to die for us. As such He has personality but He is still one God, one Divine Being.
A man cannot talk to an impersonal force such as sunlight, warmth, gravity, mother nature, etc., but he can talk to his wife, his child and his father. Not only can he talk to them but there can
also be a communion and a fellowship because they are living beings, individuals with minds and hearts of their own.
This truth must be clearly understood when the personal pronouns are used. The personal pronoun “He” should always be used, never neuter pronoun “It.” This is also true when speaking of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:2 we find the neuter pronoun “it,” but this is referring to the wind that filled the entire house. It is correct to refer to the experience of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost as “it” but when we receive the Holy Ghost into our hearts, we receive “Him.”
However, there are not three “He’s” in the Godhead. When the personal pronoun is used, we are referring to our one and only God, whether revealed to us in Creation, manifested to us in Redemption, or coming into our hearts in Regeneration.
