By: Mark Tabata (Evangelist)
One of the great mysteries portrayed in the Bible is the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It was the Apostle John who declared:
1 John 5:7-For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
One of the great teachings of the Bible is this relationship within the “one” God. There are three Persons, Who form eternally one indivisible God. We can never fully grasp the relationship here involved, any more than we can fully grasp any aspect of God’s infinite and perfect Nature.
However, I want to share with you a very powerful lesson from the simple preposition “with.”
A preposition that is simple in English, but far from simple in Greek!
In the prologue to His Gospel, the Apostle John describes the beautiful relationship within the Godhead.
He writes:
John 1:1-In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Commenting on that little word “with,”
James White informs us:
“The next phrase of John 1:1 tells us something new about the Word. The Word is eternal, but the Word was not alone in eternity past. “The Word was with God (rtpbS toy 9e6v).” Yes, it is the same word “was,” again pointing us to an eternal truth. The Word has eternally been “with God.” What does this mean? Just as Greek verbs are often more expressive than their English counterparts, so too are Greek prepositions. Here John uses the preposition npoS (pros). The term has a wide range of meanings, depending on the context in which it is found. In this particular instance, the term speaks to a personal relationship, in fact, to intimacy. It is the same term the apostle Paul uses when he speaks of how we presently have a knowledge comparable to seeing in a dim mirror, but someday, in eternity, we will have a clearer knowledge, an intimate knowledge, for we shall see “face to (pros) face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). When you are face-to-face to-face with someone, you have nowhere to hide. You have a relationship ship with that person, whether you like it or not.5 In John I: 1b, John says the Word was eternally face-to-face with God, that is, that the Word has eternally had a relationship with God.” (James R. White, The Forgotten Trinity:Recovering The Heart Of Christian Belief, 51-52 (Kindle Edition); Minneapolis, Minnesota; Bethany House Publishers)
Incredible! Within this preposition, John informs us about some profound truths regarding the relationship between the Father and the Word (and by implication the Holy Spirit Who is also identified as being God, yet separate from the Father and the Son-cf. John 14:16, 26; 16:13; Isaiah 48:16; Acts 5:1-3).
Notice some things with me.
First, the passage is absolutely clear that the Word is separate from God the Father. The word “with” makes this clear. You have John discussing two different Persons. Throughout the Bible, God the Father and God the Son are shown to be different Persons. As such, you have the Son praying to the Father (Luke 3:21; John 17), and the Father speaking directly to the Son (Matthew 3:17). The Father and the Son are not the same Person, but in relationship together.
Second, even while being in this relationship, both the Father and the Word are identified as being “God.” There was not a time when the Son did not exist, just as there was not a time when the Father did not exist. There are many who would have us believe that at some point in time, the Word did not exist and God brought Him into existence. Such is clearly not the case. Indeed, Jesus IS God (cf. John 5:18; Isaiah 9:6-7; Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:11-14), just not one and the same as God the Father and God the Spirit.
Third, please notice the love that the entire Godhead shows us in this action. Jesus-being in eternal intimacy and relationship with the Father and the Spirit-came to this world. He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the Apostle reminded us:
2 Corinthians 8:9-For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
What incredible love and sacrifice that has been made for every person by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God loves you my friends. That is the crux of the entire Gospel (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8).
Why not today repent of your sins as a believer and be baptized by the authority of Christ to have your sins forgiven and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)?
Why not repent and confess your sins to The Lord if you are an erring child of God and be forgiven immediately (1 John 1:9)?
The grace of The Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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