The God of Jesus Christ
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
There are a number of places in the New Testament where Jesus refers to the Father as His God. It might seem like a very basic question but is the Father truly the God of Jesus Christ and does Jesus worship His Father?
The reward offered to the Church of Philadelphia gives a clear reference of Jesus calling the Father His God. This is certainly not an isolated reference.
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Joh 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Note carefully that Jesus stated that He was going to “my God and your God.” I think the English here conveys clearly enough that it was the same God that He was talking about. The God of Jesus Christ is our God also. Another question to consider is whether Jesus actually worship His Father?
Mat 4:9-10 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (10) Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Joh 4:21-24 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. (22) Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jesus said to the woman at the well “we know what we worship” which is a clear indication that Jesus worshipped His Father. I think most would acknowledge that the entire life of Jesus that this world witnessed, was one endless act of worship of His Father.
Jesus referred to His Father as His God and worshipped Him as His God and we see that the Father also told Jesus that He was His God.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
If we accept these simple points at face value then we are faced with a simple proposition.
The God of Jesus Christ is not a Trinity
The objection might be raised that Jesus was demonstrating to us the principle of worship. This only makes things worse because then Jesus is actually pretending to worship and that pretend worship is actually not the true God of the Bible as expressed by Trinitarians.
Let us consider another aspect of this. The heart of the Christian faith is the belief that:
Col 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
If Christians live by the FAITH OF the Son of God and that Faith was expressed in a God that was not a Trinity but His Father then when Christ comes into our hearts and we are drawn to worship God – which God will we worship, the three person Co-eternal God of Adventism or the God of Jesus Christ?
The knee jerk reaction is the typical “are you saying that Jesus is not God!” The Bible provides the simple answer:
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Heb 1:8-9 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (9) Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
The Father is the only true God as Jesus so clearly expressed. The Father gave to His Son an inheritance that included the title of God. Christ is the Father’s representative and the Father’s name is in Him. I worship Him, love Him and serve Him because the Father commands me to do so. This is why Ellen White clearly states:
The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, but not in personality. Upward Look 367
Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore. 1SM 247
The Trinitarian mind only has one definition for God based upon self-originated Life and power. I believe the Bible presents a wider definition that presents the Father as the Self-originating God, the source of all and His Son who is God by inheritance and the one true divine example to all the universe of how to serve the Father. Without the Son the government of the Father cannot succeed. We worship Father and Son in and by the Spirit of God. Our worship and honour for the Son is respecting the command of the One true God – the Father. There is no contradiction in this process.
The current Adventist definition for God is:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.
If any one of these persons is not present the definition above fails and the notion of God is no longer present. Many claim that each member is God in their own right, but that is in direct contradiction to the definition given above. It is then stated that it is an incomprehensible mystery and I would heartily agree only adding that I am not commanded by Scripture to accept it.
The current God of Adventism is NOT the God of Jesus Christ and not the God that He worships. As God's remnant people, we claim to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. There is no place in the faith of Jesus for the Trinity. The current Adventist definition of God is a direct attack on the God of Jesus Christ and places us in the horrible situation of no longer being able to claim this verse as our own.
Father forgive us for breaking your commandments and rejecting the faith of your Son.
