One God

In keeping with the theme, I shall present this subject in three parts. God is one. No one has come before Him and no one will come after Him. In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. Genesis describes God, as Spirit, hovering above a void and formless earth. In the English translation the name "God" is used. But in the Hebrew the plural name of Eloheem is used. (A Hebrew word ending in the letter Mem signifies plural) God contemplated a plan that would involve creation and redemption of man. The Spirit of God saw in advance how man would be separated from Him by sin. (disobedience) So He created everything and by that act of creation He became Father to His creation. In His redemptive plan to save mankind, He implemented a sacrifice of Himself. This is witnessed in the Temple sacrifices established by God and every sacrifice that has ever been offered to God by our patriarchs. God therefore became the Redeemer, the Holy One, who is also called Son of God. Yet He remained only one. He did not break off into three sections that day. He remained one, only with three very distinctive natures about Himself. He forever remains, Spirit, Father to creation and Son for redemption of mankind, yet He is and always will be one. Because God's plan for creation involved three aspects of His nature, He identified Himself with a pluralistic name.

This concept of the Father and Son being One may be fully comprehended in the following passage. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) When we break this passage down we see that God indeed devised a plan upon which He would be miraculously born into the world. This Son which is born is also described as God and Father. This dismisses the idea that the Son is not God. Now we don't have more than one God. How can we?

Throughout the first part of creation the book of Genesis refers to God with plural grammar. With the creation of man He says, "Let us make man in our image, according to our image." "So God created man in His own image." This negates any commentary that would infer that God used the image of angels or the earth in the creation of man. In referring to the Tower of Babel He says, "Let us go down and confuse their speech." When God says He is one He uses the word Echad, which is a plural word, like an Echad of grapes or a dozen eggs is an Echad of eggs. The singular word for one is Yachad. So how can God be one and refer to Himself in the plural? God didn't create three persons of Himself, separate yet agreeing with Himself. He remains one, yet He has chosen that three very distinct natures of His oneness would be involved in creation.

We may infer a distinct nature in man's creation that can help us understand this complex paradigm. God is not man, nor a person, nor three persons, nor three Gods. Adam was created as one. When he married Eve he became a husband. And when Eve gave birth to their first child he became a father. Now Adam had three distinct natures about himself but that didn't make him three persons. He was a son to his Creator, a husband to his wife and a father to his child, yet he was only one. Though God is not a person, man has been created in God's image. In this same principle, God, always existing but never having parents, created man and became a father, redeemed mankind and became a Son, or redeemer, or even a Husband. But He didn't become three Gods, but remained One with a pluralistic nature.

Rabbinical commentators, such as Rashi and Rabam, have dismissed the pluralistic nature of the one God by suggesting God is referring to creation or the angels when He makes statements like "Our Image. They also contend God is speaking of Himself in the plural sense of royalty. This idea is nonsense, as the speech of the English royalty didn't exist at creation. However, they were not able to explain away references to the Holy One, Redeemer and Son as easily.

"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." (Psalms 2:12) Two things we must look at here in this passage. First God acknowledges that we must have an intimate relationship with the Son in order to live. Second, God requires that we put our trust in the Son. Now we know that God is one, and to put our trust in anyone other than God is idolatry. God would never tell us to commit idolatry, for He has established to His people that we are to only love God as one. We must therefore conclude that the Son is God, and that He has established Himself as redeemer, or Holy One, for the plan of redemption. This complex nature of God was appreciated by those who wrote the Scriptures. (Old Testament) They were always looking into and wondering about God's character as it pertained to the Son. "Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know?" (Proverbs 30:4b) Until next time, Shalom.