Our God is Triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three unique persons in one essence. In this post I want to focus on the first member of the Godhead: the Father.

Trinitarianism - God the Father

Photo Credit: Photo Credit: “Holy Trinity” by Hendrick van Balen

It was Father’s Day a few years ago as I was working at a part-time job in addition to the church I worked at. Some of my coworkers and I gathered in a common “open office” every day to do some administrative work on the computers located there. As I walked into the room one of my coworkers who had a Catholic background and who knew that I worked part-time as a pastor said, “Happy Father’s Day to you.” I was a little surprised because I was not a dad at that time. I looked at my coworker and smiled saying, “Thanks but I’m not a dad. You are a dad. Happy Father’s Day to you.” Then my friend replied, “No, you are a man of the cloth-a ‘father’-happy Father’s Day.” I then realized what he was trying to say. I appreciated him wanting to be kind, but with my protestant evangelical roots I could not resist correcting him. I smiled and said, “Well thank you. But in my opinion, in the Christian faith there is only one true father-The Lord of heaven. I am a pastor but I am not a father to people.”

Let’s look at the Father described in the Bible.

TRINITARIANISM
God the Father

I. TO WHOM IS GOD THE FATHER[ref]This outline on God the Father is adapted from some notes I received from J. Scott Horrell while I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary[/ref]

A. Israel

God is the father of the nation of Israel. God revealed this to the nation of Israel shortly after they had left Egypt by saying, “Israel is my firstborn son” (Exod 4:22, NLT).

B. Christ

There are at least three passages that make it clear Jesus is the Son of God, and God is Jesus’s Father. The first is a prophecy from God to David.

Whether it is orthodox, protestant, evangelical, or catholic Christianity, all agree on the doctrine that God exists as three persons–Father–Son–Holy Spirit together as one God.

Below is a brief outline of the primary Scriptures that described the doctrine of the Trinity.

I. INTRODUCTION

Definition of the Trinity
I believe that the one God exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each is equal in nature, equal in glory, but distinct in relationship (definition based on J. Scott Horrell and his forthcoming book on the Trinity).

II. GOD IS ONE

A. Old Testament

When reading the first five books of the Old Testament it is good to remember who wrote the books, whom they were written to, and what was the historical context of “God” at that time. Numerous hints and evidences are provided in the Bible that suggest Moses was the person who wrote the first five books of the Bible. And those first five books were written between 1446 and 1406 after the “Exodus” of the Israelites from Egypt. In this time, there were numerous gods throughout the ancient near east. Gods of fertility, water gods, grain gods, and many many others. Moses, as God’s chosen leader taking the people out of Egypt recorded the first five books of the Old Testament as a way to communicate to the Israelites who they were and who their God was.

1. Gen 1:1

Simply, one God created the world with ease and freedom.

TRINITARIANISM God the Father

I. TO WHOM IS GOD THE FATHER[ref]This outline on God the Father is adapted from some notes I received from J. Scott Horrell while I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary[/ref]

A. Israel

B. Christ

TRINITARIANISM
God the Father