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Why the Father is not the Son, nor the Spirit If there is confusion on the persons of the one God there will also be confusion on everything related to each one of the persons. Scripture tells us, God is eternal and does not change. If there is an eternal Father who is God, then there is an eternal Son, and an eternal comforter/ Helper (Holy Spirit). In human terms one cannot have a Father without having a Son. This is how God explained himself in these terms of relationship. The title, Lord Jesus Christ, applies to the Son alone not the Father. If the Father (deity) is in the Son (humanity) then they are one individual with one mind. Then the Mk.13:32 statement is impossible. This is like saying I know something that myself and I do not know, which is absurd! If one says his humanity or human spirit did not know but his God spirit did, again this makes no sense. Can the same person with the same mind know something and not know it at the same time? He (Jesus) did not possess two minds. The only sensible answer is that the Father is a different person than the Son of God. Who sent the Son and who sent the Spirit? One does not send themselves. This violates grammatical language and its meaning of its intent. God the Father did not become man, He sent the Son (who is also God) from heaven, and the Son of God (eternally) took on a human nature and became the Son of man. How do we know this? The Bible says If the Father sent the son from heaven as the savior. It should be evident the Father did not become man. Then one has to deal with another explanation. I Jn. 3:8 “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested.” 1 Tim. 3:16 “God was manifested in the flesh,” which confirms the Son is God who became man, not the Father. And I Jn. 1:2 explains that this eternal life that was manifested was the Son who was with the Father. ‘the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us” Jesus said “H e who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. " This would make no sense if they are both the same in person. It would be said differently if they were the same in person. In the Old Testament we have a clear depiction of the trinity. Isa. 48:16 " Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit have sent Me. " He mentions two others along with himself, the Lord God and his Spirit have both sent Him (the I and the me). He was there from the beginning as Jn.1:1-3 states. In other words when creation began, He was present just as the Father and the Spirit were present. The Me is identified as the Son, how do we know this? Because he clarified it in the New Testament. Jesus: " I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing (John 18:20). John 3:34 "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God.” John 4:34 Jesus said to them, " My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. ” It is always another’s will Jesus is doing as a servant, the Father’s. Thus he is equal in nature but not the same in person. John 5:23 " that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him .” John 5:30 " I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me .’ In all these statements Jesus distinguishes Himself from the Father, He is doing another’s will as he came as a servant. The strongest testimony to why the Father is not the Son is that they communicate to each other and they appear in two different places as they communicate. in other words, Jesus is not talking to himself as the Father, neither is the Father speaking to himself as the Son. John 12:27-30 " 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." Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake .” Jesus speaks to the Father, a voice comes from another, it was the Father speaking to the Son. Jesus later says John 12:45-47 " He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. "And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world .” The one who sent Jesus is invisible, but they were able to see who He is by the works the Son did to glorify him. And He was able to do this because he is equal in nature. John 14 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father , and it is sufficient for us." Jesus SAID TO HIM, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER; so how can you say, "Show us the Father' ? When Jesus used this expression “ if you have seen me you have seen the Father” He meant that as the Son He is expressing His Father’s nature. He is making the Father who is invisible known. The nature of the invisible God can be seen in action, by His words and deeds. Remember that is the same John writes that Jesus said no man has seen the Father (John 6:46). So this is contrary to those saying Jesus is confirming here that he is the Father in human flesh. Because they had seen Jesus who is the Son of God, (the Image of God, 1:18) therefore God the Father, who is invisible is like Jesus and Jesus who is visible is like the Father. Furthermore in Jn. 12:45 45: Jesus states, “ And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” Because they had seen Jesus who is the Son of God, (the Image of God, 1:18) therefore God the Father, who is invisible is like Jesus and Jesus who is visible as a man is like the Father. Examining John 10:30 and Jesus’ claim “I and my Father are one.” In V.33 the Jews pick up stones because they understood this as blasphemy. In v.36 Jesus inter prets what He meant by saying, “because I said, I am the Son of God. ” Clearly Jesus knew who he was (not the Father) Just as John the Baptizer knew he was not Elijah. Thus the statement “I and my Father are one (literally in Greek: we are one), in nature not person. This what Jesus meant in John 10:38 “… that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him .” Contrary to those who claim the Son of God means anything less than equal with God, it actually affirmed His deity. If all the words for sons were equal, why would they want to stone Jesus for calling himself a son of God, if they were all sons too? Here Jesus connects His unique term and position of being the Son of God to being equal with God, a claim no man would dare apply to himself. That is why their reaction and saying he is blaspheming. The Bible never says the Father was incarnated as man, but that he sent the Son from heaven. If one does not grasp this they will never know whom the Son really is. In fact you could say that oneness is noneness in persons. Jesus said in Mt. 16 to Peter the Father who is in heaven has revealed to him who he is (when he said he is the Son of the living God) so he is not the Father.
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