READING • ISAIAH 45
Knowing the one true God
The Bible teaches that there is one God, the Father, and that Jesus Christ is His Son. This lesson considers what Scripture says about the Father, the Son, their relationship, and the human nature of Jesus. Because these subjects concern the very identity of God and His Son, we must allow the Bible itself to guide our conclusions.
Can we discover God by ourselves?
“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?”
Job 11:7 • King James Version
Human reasoning cannot discover everything about the Creator. We know God because He has revealed Himself in His Word. Isaiah reminds us that God's thoughts and ways are far above ours:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 • King James Version
God is One
The unity of God is stated repeatedly throughout Scripture. Moses taught Israel:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 • King James Version
The same truth appears in the prophets and in the New Testament. God declares, 'I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me' (Isaiah 45:5). Paul writes:
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
1 Timothy 2:5 • King James Version
A helpful New Testament summary
Paul also writes: 'But to us there is but one God, the Father ... and one Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 8:6). Christadelphians see this as a clear distinction between the one God, the Father, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God who is powerful and merciful
The one God is beyond human power and majesty. Paul describes Him as the 'blessed and only Potentate' and as dwelling in unapproachable light:
“Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
1 Timothy 6:16 • King James Version
Yet God's greatness is joined with mercy, patience and compassion. The Psalmist says:
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
Psalm 103:8 • King James Version
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
Psalm 103:13-14 • King James Version
It is because of this mercy and love that God gave His Son for our salvation.
The Son of God
God's purpose concerning His Son was foretold in the Old Testament. Isaiah wrote:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14 (excerpt) • King James Version
The New Testament records the fulfilment of this purpose. Three passages make the relationship especially clear:
PASSAGE
WHAT IT SAYS
WHAT IT SHOWS
Galatians 4:4
“God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”
The Son came into the world through birth from a woman, at the time appointed by God.
Mark 1:11
“Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
God speaks of Jesus as His beloved Son.
John 20:31
Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God”.
The Gospel was written so that readers might believe this and have life through his name.
How did Jesus become the Son of God?
The angel Gabriel explained the miraculous conception of Jesus to Mary. Jesus had no human father. His Father was God:
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 • King James Version
Did Jesus personally exist before his birth?
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that Jesus did not personally exist before his conception and birth. He was in God's purpose from the beginning, because God had planned his work and salvation long before he was born. Scripture can speak of things in God's purpose as certain before they have happened, because what God has determined will surely come to pass.
Foreknown before he was manifested
1 Peter 1:20 says that Christ was 'foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you'. This language distinguishes God's prior purpose from the later historical appearance of Jesus.
The King James Version of Revelation 13:8 speaks of 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world'. Jesus was not literally slain at creation: Hebrews 9:26-28 places his sacrifice in history and says that he was offered once. Christadelphians therefore understand such language as describing the certainty and central place of Christ in God's purpose, not a personal life before his birth.
Jesus shared our human nature
Because Jesus was born of Mary, he truly shared human nature. Hebrews repeatedly stresses this. He was not a sinful man - he never sinned - but he experienced human weakness, suffering, temptation and death.
PASSAGE
WHAT IT TEACHES
Hebrews 2:14
The children are partakers of flesh and blood; Jesus “also himself likewise took part of the same”.
Hebrews 2:17
“In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.”
Hebrews 4:15
He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”.
Hebrews 5:7-8
In the days of his flesh he prayed with strong crying and tears, and “learned he obedience by the things which he suffered”.
Jesus died, but God raised him from the dead and gave him immortal, glorious life. He now lives for ever and will return to reign as God's appointed King.
The Father is greater than the Son
The Bible gives Jesus unique honour and authority, yet it also consistently distinguishes him from the Father. Jesus said:
“The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.”
John 5:19 (excerpt) • King James Version
He also said, 'my Father is greater than I' (John 14:28). Paul writes that 'the head of Christ is God' (1 Corinthians 11:3). These passages are central to the Christadelphian understanding of the relationship between Father and Son.
“I and my Father are one”
Jesus said, 'I and my Father are one' (John 10:30). Christadelphians understand this as unity of purpose, work and will, rather than identity of person. In his prayer in John 17, Jesus used similar language when he prayed that his disciples might also be one:
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”
John 17:21 (excerpt) • King James Version
The disciples did not become one literal person. The comparison therefore shows the profound unity that can exist while persons remain distinct.
The Son remains subject to the Father
Even after the resurrection and the future reign of Christ, Scripture retains the distinction between God and His Son. Paul writes of the end of the Kingdom age:
“Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
1 Corinthians 15:28 (excerpt) • King James Version
Jesus’ own words about eternal life
In prayer Jesus addressed the Father as 'the only true God' and distinguished himself as the one whom the Father had sent (John 17:3). Christadelphians understand this as one of the clearest statements of the relationship between God and Christ.
Why Christadelphians do not accept the Trinity
Most historic Christian churches teach the doctrine of the Trinity: one God existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christadelphians do not accept this doctrine because they do not believe the Bible teaches three co-equal, co-eternal persons in one God. The words 'Trinity' and 'God the Son' do not occur in the Bible, while Scripture repeatedly speaks of one God, the Father, and of Jesus as the Son of God.
It is also important to describe the history accurately. The precise creedal language used by Trinitarian Christianity developed during the post-apostolic centuries. The Council of Nicaea in AD 325 used the term 'of one substance' to define the relationship of the Son to the Father, and the Council of Constantinople in AD 381 expanded the creed's teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. Trinitarian Christians regard these councils as expressing biblical truth; Christadelphians believe that the resulting formulation goes beyond the language and teaching of Scripture.
What about the Apostles’ Creed?
The Apostles' Creed was not written directly by the apostles. It developed over time from early baptismal statements of faith, with an earlier form often called the Old Roman Creed. Its familiar wording begins by speaking of 'God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth' and then of 'Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord'. Christadelphians agree with that biblical distinction of Father and Son, although churches which use the creed commonly interpret it within Trinitarian theology.
Keeping Bible language clear
When discussing God and Jesus, it is safest to begin with the titles and descriptions Scripture itself uses. The following passages are especially useful:
BIBLE LANGUAGE
REFERENCE
EMPHASIS
“one God, the Father”
1 Corinthians 8:6
God is identified as the Father; Jesus is identified in the same verse as “one Lord Jesus Christ”.
“the only true God”
John 17:3
Jesus addresses the Father and distinguishes himself as the one whom the Father sent.
“the man Christ Jesus”
1 Timothy 2:5
Jesus is the one mediator between the one God and humanity.
“the Son of God”
John 20:31
This is the title the Gospel asks its readers to believe concerning Jesus.
“my Father is greater than I”
John 14:28
Jesus explicitly acknowledges the Father's greater position.
SUMMARY
1
There is one God.
The Bible repeatedly identifies the one God and calls believers to love and worship Him alone.
2
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
He was conceived by the power of God and born of the virgin Mary. God is his Father.
3
Jesus was in God's purpose from the beginning.
Christadelphians understand his personal existence to have begun with his conception and birth, while God had foreknown and planned his work beforehand.
4
Jesus truly shared human nature.
He partook of flesh and blood, experienced temptation and suffering, yet remained completely without sin.
5
The Father and Son are united but distinct.
Jesus perfectly does his Father's will, yet Scripture says the Father is greater and that the Son is subject to Him.
6
Christadelphians reject the Trinity.
They believe the later creedal formula of three co-equal, co-eternal persons goes beyond the Bible's own language about the one God, the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.
Chapters to read
Deuteronomy 6; Matthew 1:18-25; John 17; 1 Corinthians 15
LEARN BY HEART • 1 TIMOTHY 2:5
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
1 Timothy 2:5 • King James Version
Further study
If you would like to study this subject in greater depth, ask your tutor for additional material about the Father and the Son.
Christadelphian Bible Mission
Box CBM, 404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham B28 8SZ, England
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