One God- three Persons
When Jesus the Son of God died on the cross, the Father was sitting on the throne in heaven. The New Testament teaches the concept of One God with three separate divine Persons-Son, Father and Holy Spirit. Each is God (Ephesians 4:6; Titus 2:13; Acts 5:3, 4), yet the “three are one” (1 John 5:7). They are one in nature, character, and purpose. And they are the same in properties, attributes and equal in power and glory.
The Father Speaking to the Son
And at the baptism of Jesus, we see the three persons of the Godhead. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16,17). If Jesus is the only person in the Godhead, who spoke from heaven and declared, “This is my beloved Son”? This was the voice of the Father in heaven. And the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove.
At the transfiguration mount, the Father in heaven again witnessed to His Son on earth. “And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Luke 9:35 also 2 Peter 1:16–18).
And when Jesus departed from the Temple for the last time, the Father’s voice was heard from heaven testifying of His Son. Jesus prayed to His Father saying, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again” (John 12:27, 28).
The Son at the Right Hand of the Father
Jesus describing the second coming said, “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God” (Luke 22:69). And at the stoning of Stephen, the martyr was filled with the Holy Spirit and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:54-56).
The Separate Names of the Father and the Son
Before His ascension to heaven, Jesus taught us to use the three Names of the Persons of the Godhead in the great commission. He commanded, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
Three Witnesses in Heaven
The apostle John testified of heaven saying: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7,8).
The apostle Paul affirmed that there were three divine persons. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). And he affirmed the same truth saying, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).
Also, John the Revelator spoke of the Father and the Son as distinct and separate from each other. He said, “From the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, 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” (Revelation 1:4–6 ).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
