The Godhead Revealed
By Britt Prince
Lesson 1
The Godhead is one of the most difficult, yet simplest subjects in the Bible to understand. Some of the greatest minds in our world have stumbled while others with less scholastic ability have understood it clearly.
Why?
Because God has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed it unto babes (Luke 10:21)
God expects us to know who He is and to worship Him with understanding. The scriptures affirm that the Godhead is without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
Unfortunately, the subject of the Godhead has been greatly complicated by historical church creeds that were developed by church councils during the early days of church history. These creeds have left Christianity with a lack of understanding of the Godhead.
These councils and creeds are revered by many today as being infallible. Yet, a closer look would prove that their concept of God is non-Biblical.
Two views
Basically, there are only two views of the Godhead being taught in mainstream Christianity.
They are the Oneness (Monotheism) and the Trinity.
The Oneness doctrine teaches that there is one supreme eternal Spirit, known as the Father, who manifest Himself in flesh as the Son, Jesus Christ. God also manifest Himself as the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell inside of mankind. Thus, in short, God is the Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and the Holy Ghost in regeneration; Three manifestations of One God that operate simultaneously.
Modern oneness theology does not endorse much of-earlier oneness theology since censorship was practiced and oneness documents were distorted and misrepresented by the bias victors of debates. Ancient manuscripts were often changed (interpolations) by later copyists to support their doctrines.
The Trinity doctrine teaches that there are three persons in the Godhead, the names that are given to these three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Yet, they deny that they believe in three separate Gods (Tritheism).
In explaining their beliefs, proponents of the Trinity waffle between oneness terms and Tritheistic. Ultimately, they resort to stating that the Trinity is a mystery that our finite human minds cannot fully comprehend.
There is a division among those who profess to believe the Trinity. Some believe outright Tritheism while others believe the oneness but simply apply the term Trinity to their beliefs.
Let’s evaluate both views closely:
Oneness view: Both Old Testament Jewish believers and New Testament oneness believers derive their beliefs from:
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, 0 Israel: the LORD our God is __________ LORD:
Jesus declared, that this was …”the first of all the commandments” (Mark 12:29)
Jesus further endorsed this concept in his conversation with a Samaritan woman.
John 4:22
Ye worship ye know not what, we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.
All of the Old Testament writers were oneness and had no concept of a trinity of persons in the Godhead. They were looking for their one God to manifest himself in the flesh and be their Messiah.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name _________________.
This was confirmed in Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name __________________ which being interpreted is, God with us.
The New Testament writers, most of them being Jews, had this same concept and expressed no thought of introducing a dramatic new revelation of a plurality in God.
The Old Testament teaches that God was coming in the flesh, and the New Testament teaches that God came in the flesh.
Isaiah 12:2-3
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
The Hebrew for the word salvation in this text is Yeshuah. Scholars tell us that the word Yeshuah is better rendered in the English as Jesus.
Let’s read it again and insert the word Jesus.
Isaiah 12:2-3
2 Behold, God is my Jesus; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my Jesus.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Jesus.
The God of the Old Testament became the God of the New Testament.
What is God?
John 4: 24
God is a __________________.
1 Timothy 1:17
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, _______________________, the only wise God…
1 Timothy 6:15-16
Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath ________________, nor can __________________.
God is an eternal, immortal, invisible Spirit that dwells in light.
What is Jesus Christ?
He is the visible body that the one supreme, invisible Spirit prepared for Himself to dwell in and He lived among us.
Hebrews 10:5
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a ________________ hast thou prepared me:
Eph. 4:4
There is _________________ body, and _________________ Spirit…
There is one eternal Spirit known to us as the Father that dwelt in a body known to us as Jesus Christ.
Jesus was the visible image of the invisible God.
Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the _____________________ God, the firstborn of every creature:
John 1:18
No man hath ________________________ God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
1 Timothy 6:16
…whom no man hath seen, nor can see…
The Father is an invisible Spirit that does not have a body, that makes himself visible in the body of Jesus Christ.
John 14:8-9
Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath ________________ the ________________; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
John 14:7
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have ___________________ Him.
The only way we will ever see the Father is to look into the face of Jesus Christ.
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
The Spirit and the body are one! Therefore we can say, the Son is the Father and the Father is the Son.
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The __________________ everlasting The Prince of Peace.
The Son was the everlasting Father manifest in the flesh, Emanuel, God with us.
1 Timothy 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: _____________________ was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
The Almighty God was incarnate (made himself a body)
That’s why Jesus Christ could declare himself to be the Almighty God.
Revelation 1:8
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the______________________ (red letter edition)
God the Father (Spirit) dwelt in the Son(body) and was Emanuel, the Almighty God with us.
2 Corinthians 5:19
To wit, that God was _________________ Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
Colossians 2:9
For in him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead _________________.
Lesson 2
The Dual Nature:
To fully understand who Jesus Christ is, we must understand the dual nature of Christ. Both Oneness and Trinitarians agree on this point. Bishop Leo I of Rome called the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451 to define Orthodox Christology. He taught that “Christ has two natures but is only one person”.
Jesus Christ had two natures; He was fully God and fully man. The Spirit in Him was divinity and the flesh was humanity.
The Bible refers to Jesus as being the “Son of God” and the “Son of man”.
The Son of God refers to His deity, while the son of man refers to His humanity.
The Bible never calls Jesus, God the son.
This terminology would indicate a second person or deity in the
Godhead.
When we read a statement about Jesus, we must determine if it describes Jesus as a man or as God. Moreover, whenever Jesus speaks in scripture, we must determine whether He is speaking as a man or as God.
The Humanity:
As a man, Jesus was born as a baby, grew in stature and in wisdom, was tempted, hungered, thirsted, grew weary, slept, was limited in power and knowledge, prayed, was scourged, beaten, was inferior to God, was a servant, died on a cross.
The Deity:
As God, He existed from eternity, never changes, cast out devils, miraculously fed multitudes, calmed the storm, answered prayers, healed the sick, forgave sins, knew all things, had all power, was God, was King of kings, was the Almighty, and raised His own body from the dead.
Understanding the different natures of Christ helps us to understand the different roles that He played. He was God and man at the same time.
The contrast:
As a man, He slept in the bottom of the boat. As God, He calmed
the storm. As man, He was hungry and thirsty. As God, He fed the multitude, cast out devils, healed the sick and spoke great words.
John 14:10-11
Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
The miracles He performed and the words He spoke were not of the humanity, but of the Spirit.
That’s why Jesus could forgive sins (Mark 2:5-10)
Jesus also spoke as deity to the thief on the cross and said, “Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Deity forgives sin, not humanity.
In the final hours of the life of Jesus, He prayed in the garden, “Not my will, but thine be done.”
The flesh prayed to the Spirit. Humanity prayed to deity, not one person in the Godhead praying to another, nor one God praying to another.
When Jesus died on the cross, the humanity cried out in pain and gave up the ghost (Spirit).
God did not die on the cross. God is an eternal Spirit that cannot die. The humanity died.
Neither did the second person in the Godhead die. That would be part of God dying.
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one ______________ and one__________________ between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…
Conclusion: Jesus was fully God and fully man.
Three manifestations
Now that we understand the dual nature of Christ, we must also understand that God has manifest Himself as the Holy Ghost.
God the Father is an omnipresent Spirit that has manifest himself to us as our heavenly Father.
He has also manifest himself to us in a bodily form as the Son, Jesus Christ.
He also manifests himself to us by allowing us to feel His presence and by filling us with his Spirit, that is known as the Holy Ghost.
God has manifest Himself as the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Three manifestations, but the same Spirit.
The Holy Ghost is not a separate Spirit from the Father..
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by ________________ ________________ are we baptized into one body…
Ephesians 4:4 says there is only “one Spirit”
Conclusion: There is only one Spirit (Father) that manifests Himself as the Son and as the Holy Ghost.
How many thrones in heaven?
When we get to heaven, will there be three thrones, or one?
First, there is not a little old gray-haired man in heaven known as the Father.
God is a Spirit, no man hath seen him at any time nor can see him. The Father does not have a body. Since the Father does not have a body, He won’t need a throne.
Who will Jesus sit next to?
Mark 16:19
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
The Jews traditionally have understood that the right hand of God speaks metaphorically of a place of power.
Mark 14:62
And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of _____________________ , and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Colossians 2:10
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and ___________________.
Where will Jesus sit?
Since Jesus has the only body, He will need a throne. Let’s look at a passage that refers to the throne of God.
Revelation 4:2
And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, __________________ throne was set in heaven, and __________________ sat on the throne.
Who will sit on that throne?
Revelation 4:8
…and they rest not day and night, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Jesus used this same terminology when he declared of Himself in…
Revelation 1:8
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Do Angels behold the face of God?
Matt 18:10
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for 1 say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Remember God is a Spirit. Jesus said, spirits don’t have flesh and blood (Luke 24:39). The Greek word for behold here can be literal or figurative. Jesus was speaking figuratively.
Will the Holy Ghost sit on the other side?
Since the Holy Ghost is God’s Spirit and spirits do not have bodies. The Holy Ghost won’t need a throne either.
There is only one God and only one throne in heaven. Jesus Christ will be the only image of God we will ever see.
Rev 22:3-4
3… but the throne of God and of the shall be in it; and his
servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see face; and his name shall be in their
foreheads.
What about the Lamb taking the book out of the right hand of the one on the throne in Rev. 5:1-7?
Most of the book of Revelation is symbolic.
This is not a literal scene, because Rev. 22:3 said, the Lamb was in the throne. The Lamb cannot be in the throne and standing before the throne.
The right hand is symbolic of power, referring to deity. The lamb is symbolic of the man Christ Jesus, referring to humanity.
