Godhood

It is important we understand that God's Son is also GOD. The word 'God' is used a number of ways and to some people it becomes confusing. Although it is a title, we often use it as a proper name. We all understand this, and when used as such, there is no confusion. But when we say Jesus is God, it means different things to different people. To some it means He is the co-equal, co-eternal second person of the Trinity. To others it means He is divine or deity, like His Father.

In Hebrews, the Father says, "when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him." Hebrews 1:6. Obviously the Son is divine for God to command worship. In John's gospel, the first verse clearly says, "the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. A Trinitarian will see this as saying the Word is co-equal and co-eternal with 'the God' in the verse. Our pioneers saw the word 'God' relating to the Word as meaning He is divine or has the qualities or attributes of deity.

Our prophet asked the question: "Who is Christ?" Then she answers it: "He is the only begotten Son of the living God. He is to the Father as a word that expresses the thought -- as a thought made audible. Christ is the Word of God." Reflecting Christ p15.

"Christ said to Philip, 'He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.' His words were the echo of God's words. Christ was the likeness of God, the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person." Sons and Daughter of God p21.

"By coming to dwell with us, Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels. He was the Word of God -- God's thought made audible." Desire of Ages p20.

"The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, but not in personality." E.G. White. MS 116. Dec 19. 1905.

"Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father -- one in nature, in character, in purpose -- the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God." Patriarchs and Prophets p34.

"For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself..." John 5:26. "He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality." Desire of Ages. p787.

"In him (Christ) was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. 'I lay it down of myself.' (John 10:18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man." 1 Selected Messages 297. Signs of the Times. Apr 8.1897.

The Son also received the Spirit of His Father. The Spirit of God is His very being. To the woman at the well Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24.

"All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." John 16:15. The Spirit "proceedeth from the Father", and it is the Son who gives it to us. John 15:26.

The Son is called God by His own Father, when He said, "Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever..." Hebrews 1:8. The names of the Father can be given to the Son, except that one is the Father; the other the Son. The Son is begotten; the Father is not. The Father is King of the universe; the Son is King of this earth. The Son is the Redeemer, a work given to Him by His Father.

"It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, 'I AM THAT I AM...' Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14. This name can certainly be used for the Father, but it is also applicable to the Son who has His Father's divine and eternal attributes.

Remember that the Son of God is GOD. It is His nature, but being a Son does not make Him a lesser God than His Father. In nature, they are equal. This is how the Son is truly God in infinity. You and I can fall at His feet, as did Thomas, and exclaim, "My Lord and My God." It does not take anything away from the truth that God the Father is 'the' God and King of the universe, and Jesus Christ is His Son. So let us worship our Saviour.