Godhead
By Oscar Vouga
The first of all the commandments is, Hear, 0 Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” Mark 12:29; Deut. 6:4. This commandment, being established in the Old Testament, and reestablished by our Lord Jesus in the New Testament, is the first fundamental doctrine of the Christian religion. We therefore preach that there is but one God, the Lord, Jehovah, the I AM, for “. . . The Lord, He is the God.” 1 Kings 18:39. “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me . . .” Isa. 45:5. To have more than one God is idolatry, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are ‘all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” 1 Con 8:6. Not two Lords, but ONE Lord God Almighty.
“God (the Father) is a Spirit . . .” and cannot be worshipped as a physical being, but “. . . they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. A spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39), and is therefore invisible, immortal (when divine), the only wise God. (1 Tim. 1:17.) God is omnipresent, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph. 4:6. (Also read Ps. 139:7-10.) We cannot hide from His presence. Heaven is His throne, and the earth is His footstool; He cannot be confined absolutely to any one place or building, for God, the Father, fills all eternity in both time and space, “. . . even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Ps. 90:2.
The Son of God was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. (Matt. 1:18-25) “the son of David of the tribe of Judah. “In the beginning (He) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. He was in the form of God (Phil. 2:6). He was the body of heaven that Moses and Aaron, with the elders of Israel, saw. (Exodus 24:10.) It was He who talked with Abraham (Gen. 17:1), wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24-30), walked in the fiery furnace with the three Hebrew children (Dan. 3:25), was and is the creator of all things: “. . . all things were created by him, and for him.” Col. 1:16.
“But made himself of no reputation (Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, “Weymouth”), and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Phil. 2:7. He left the glory of the Father, that is, stripped Himself of divine glory, but not of deity, and was made flesh. “. . . Therefore also that holy thing (. . . the veil, that is to say, his flesh; Heb. 10:20) which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:3 5. Therefore, He was and is God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Tim. 3:16). In deity, absolute God; in humanity, perfect man: “Who is the image of the invisible God . . .”
1:15. “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person . . .” Heb. 1:3. The. Father (God) being Spirit, is invisible and can only be seen in the Son, as Jesus said, in simple words, “. . . he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the’ Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? . . .” (Read John 14:7-11.) He is now glorified with the Father, with the glory that He had before the world was (John 17:5). “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead: that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Col. 1:18.. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead BODILY.” Col. 2:9. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:10.
The Holy Ghost is the spirit of the Father and of the Son(John 14:22), the comforter who was with them (the disciples) and is in us (John 14:16-20). “. . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27. The Holy Ghost is the Father, “. . . for that. which is conceived in her (Mary) is of the Holy Ghost.” Matt. 1:20. Jesus is the baptizer with the Holy Ghost because the Father is in Him, and the Father in Him baptizes us with the Holy Ghost, as Jesus plainly said “. . . the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14:10.
The Godhead is understood and clearly seen by the things that are made, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Rom. 1:20. The Godhead is plainly taught in the creation of man who was made in the image and likeness of God. Man is a threefold being “body, soul and spirit” but only one person; therefore, it is understood and clearly seen that God is a threefold being” Father, Son and Holy Spirit” but only ONE person, and that one is the Holy One, Jesus Christ our Lord. He is not the second person, but is the First and Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, and there is none beside Him. (Read Rev. 22:13; 21: 6-7; 1:8, 17; 2:8; Isa. 44:6; 43:10-11.) There are not three spirits, but there is ONE SPIRIT (Eph. 4:4), and “Now the Lord (God) is that Spirit: . . .” 2 Cor. 3:17. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2:5.
The above article “Godhead” is written by Oscar Vouga. This article was excerpted from Vouga’s book Our Gospel Message.
The material is copyrighted and should not be repainted under any other name or author. However, this material may freely be used for personal study or purposes.
