DOCTRINE OF GOD

From WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES

by F. G. Smith

THE SON.

The passages already cited show that Christ is a person distinct from the Father. The following facts prove Scripturally that he is divine-equal with the Father himself:

I. DIVINE TITLES ARE APPLIED TO HIM THE SAME AS TO THE FATHER.

"Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom" (Heb. 1:8). "For unto us a child is born, onto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9: 6). "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matt. 1:23). "In the beginning ... the Word was God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). "The church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). So also John 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9; Tit. 1:3; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 17:14, etc.

II. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM.

1. Preexistence, or eternity. "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). "The second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor. 15:47). "That which was from the beginning" (1 John 1:1). "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:6, 7). "O Father, glorify thou me with throe own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5). "And he is before all things" (Col. 1: 17). "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judea, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting [from the days of eternity, margin]" (Micah 5: 2). Nothing can be plainer than this last statement, that the Bethlehem babe preexisted, even from the days of eternity -- coexistent with God himself. So also in the Revelation he is represented by that symbolic title signifying eternity, "Alpha and Omega." "I Jesus have sent mine angels to testify unto you these things. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Rev. 22: 16, 13). Therefore the statement that Christ is the Son of God does not signify that he originated from the Father in the ages past, but should be interpreted with reference to his miraculous Virgin birth, thus denoting God's special relation to him in his office-work as the world's Redeemer.

2. Omnipotence. "The government shall be upon his shoulder" (Isa. 9:6). "Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18). "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). "He is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil. 3: 21). He "is the head of all principality and power" (Col. 2:10). So also John 10:17, 18; Heb. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:10, etc.

3. Omnipresence. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20).

4. Omniscience. "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man" (John 2:24, 25). "Lord, thou knowest all things" (John 21:17). "Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men" (Acts 1:24). "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3) Matt. 11:27; Rev. 2:23.

Also, holiness, truth, justice, goodness, faithfulness, etc., are attributes of Christ.

III. DIVINE WORKS ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM.

1. Creation. "God .... bath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son . . . . by whom also he made the worlds" (Heb. 1:1, 2). "And thou, Lord, in the beginning bast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of throe hands" (verse 10). "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible . . . . all things were created by him and for him" (Col. 1: 16, etc.).

2. Redemption. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1: 7). "He entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12). This phase will be more fully considered hereafter.

IV. HE IS PREEMINENT-ABOVE ALL THINGS.

"He is Lord of all" (Acts 10: 36). "Lord both of the dead and living" (Rom. 14:9). "God hath . . . . given him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9). "He is the head of the body, the church . . . . that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col. 1:18). "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him" (1 Pet. 3: 22, etc.).

V. HE IS A PROPER OBJECT OF DEVOTION AND WORSHIP.

While the Scriptures denounce idolatry and enjoin the worship of the one true and living God only, they set forth Christ as A PROPER OBJECT OF DEVOTION AND WORSHIP. "Let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb. 1:6). "All men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (John 5:23). "And they worshiped him" (Luke 24:52). Saints "in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:2). "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Phil. 2:10). So also Rev. 5:13; 2 Tim. 4:18; et al.

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