One God – Part 1

By Clifton Angel     To conclude his list of items which are conducive to church unity, Paul writes, "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:6). Grammatically and contextually, "God" and "Father" are referring to the same Being—the One we sometimes call "God the Father." However, for special study purposes, I want to address these words in separate articles. So, first, we will note that there is "One God."     First, I am convinced that "God" is a description more than a name. Similarly, "human" is a description, not a name. Interestingly, He was known as “El Shaddai” (God Almighty) under the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Exodus 6:3), and the revered and oft unpronounced name under the Mosaic covenant was Jehovah (YHWH, or “Yahweh”) (cf. Exodus 6:3; Isaiah 48:2; 51:15; 54:5; Amos 4:3). “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:2–3). “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Exodus 3:13–15).     Second, "God" is a nature which only three Beings possess (Romans 1:20). Our Heavenly Father possesses God-nature. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Who is the Word which became flesh (John 1:1, 14), possesses God-nature. The Holy Spirit, who is a Person and not an "it," possesses God-nature (Acts 5:3–4; Genesis 1:2). They are three distinct Beings, with distinct roles and works, yet They are One in nature and purpose. They never contradict One Another. Certainly, I would not be dogmatic in saying that a person is incorrect in beginning a prayer with "Dear God,” but we are specifically and exemplarily taught to pray to the "Father" (Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 3:14). We are not authorized to pray to the Holy Spirit, nor are we authorized to pray to Jesus. Rather, Jesus and the Spirit have specific roles and are involved in our prayers to the Father (cf. Romans 8:26–27, 34; 1 Timothy 2:5).

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/