Verses existed in the Old Testament which indicated that God had a Son (e.g. Prov. 30:4). However, during the time those scriptures were written, God did not allow even the men who wrote them to understand the mystery of His Son. The earliest congregation had only the Old Testament writings, but preached Christ everywhere they went, because their eyes were opened to the meaning of the ancient scriptures. They saw the Son of God in every book Moses wrote, even though Moses himself did not see. Neither did the other prophets who spoke of the One who would come, "for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2Pet. 1: 21). God spoke of His Son through the ancient holy men, but would not allow them to understand the meaning of their own words (1Pet. 1:9-12).

What John wrote was certainly not new to God. Neither was it altogether new to the scriptures. What was new was that John understood what he was writing, whereas the old covenant men of God were "kept in the dark" concerning the Son of God. An excellent example of this mysterious inspiration can be found in Proverbs chapter eight. In this remarkably prophetic chapter, Christ, whom the apostle Paul calls "the wisdom of God", speaks of his life in eternity with the Father:

The LORD [the Father] possessed [Hebrew = created] me in the beginning of His way, before his works of old.

Later, Jesus himself confirms this by revealing that he is "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14). Not only so, Christ is the ending as well. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Rev. 22:13). In other words, the first and the last thing the Father ever created was the Son. Everything else in heaven and in earth was created by the Son. Demons, angels, men, beasts -- everything everywhere -- was created by the Son for the praise and glory of his Father. But now, let us return to Proverbs.

Wisdom continues in Proverbs eight to declare himself to have been "brought forth" before the oceans and mountains were created. He also tells us that he was "set up" (Hebrew = anointed) before the earth was made. And "when he prepared the heavens, I was there." Before anything else existed, the Father created for himself a Son, who then created all else. Solomon, unaware of the meaning of his words, concludes this glorious testimony to the Son of God by prophesying "when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by him, as one brought up with him. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." Prior to the creation of anything else, Christ was ecstatic with joy -- just to BE -- in the presence of his Father.

It was the Father speaking to the Son in Genesis 1:26, when he said, "Let us make man in our image." Dear friend, this is no reference to a "trinity." There is no such thing. This is simply the Father making known His will to the Son, who then created man, according to the will of God. The Son of God created everything, except himself.

One may learn much about parents by observing their children. Especially is this the case with the Son of God. Jesus said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Amen. Anyone who has seen or known Jesus has seen the Father, because the Son is "the Amen [of the Father]; the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14). My son both looks and behaves much like I do, but Jesus was much more like his Father than my son is like me. So much so, in fact, that the author of Hebrews said that Jesus is "the express image of" God the Father's person (Heb. 1:3). Incredibly, this statement, and others like it, have been misconstrued by some to mean that Jesus IS the Father himself.

Some teach "three Gods in one", while others say there is but one, but the truth lies between these two errors. Hopefully, the information I am giving you now will help you navigate these straits, so that you may arrive safely in the harbor of truth. The simple, biblical truth is so much easier to understand than philosophical speculations of men. The Father created the Son, "the firstborn of every creature", and the Son created everything else. There are not "three in one", and there is not "only one." There are two -- the Father and the Son.

Although Jesus did say, "I and my Father are one" (Jn. 10:30), we must understand how they are one. The key to this understanding is in Jesus' prayer to his Father, just hours before his crucifixion. In that compassionate prayer for his disciples, Jesus pleaded with the Father "that they may be one as we are" (Jn. 17:11). So, we should ask ourselves, how are we believers made "one" in Christ? For if Jesus' prayer was heard (and I believe the Father always heard and answered His Son's prayers), then we who are in Christ are "one" just as he and the Father are "one." Surely, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is clear to see that we are one in Spirit. Ideally, we are one in love, faith, and purpose. Jesus died for that. If believers are made one, as Christ and his Father are one, then clearly their oneness was a unity in spirit, not in person. Jesus is not the Father in person. But he walked so meekly in the Father's will, so humbly and obediently doing good in God's sight, that anyone who saw Jesus, was seeing the heart of God in action. Jesus showed us the goodness, the wisdom, and the power of God. To know Jesus is to know the Father because Jesus only does what pleases the Father. Jesus and his Father are of the same mind, the same judgment, the same intents and purposes. This is the unity that Jesus prayed would be given to us, and it breaks my heart to have to confess that we are a divided family. Oh, friend, if there is any one prayer we can pray that must be acceptable to God, surely it is that we who love Christ Jesus may once again walk together in unity of the Spirit and "the faith that was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

“ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER in the same mind and in the same judgment” 1Cor. 1:10.

Oh, what glorious victory, and what a powerful witness it would be to the world, if the children of God would be one, as Jesus is one with the Father! This oneness, however, does not require that you and I become the same person. That would be impossible! You are you, and I am I. We could never become one person. You have your own body in which to live, and I have mine. But we can "be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind" (Phip. 2:2), just like Jesus and the Father. Jesus suffered and died to make his oneness with the Father available to us. Not a oneness in person. You will never be God the Father, just as Jesus never will be. But, through Christ, we can be "partakers of the divine nature", and know the mind of the Father, living according to His will -- just as Jesus did.

God the Father has a body. God's Son has a body. They can look at each other just as you and I can. The Father did not take on a fleshly body and die on the cross. The Son of God did. The Son, after his resurrection, ascended to his Father and sat down "at his right hand." They are two persons, one greater than the other (Jn. 14:28), one more knowledgeable than the other (Mt. 24:36), one worshiped by and feared by the other (Heb. 5:1-8), one sanctified and sent into the world by the other (Jn. 10:36), as said the Spirit of Christ through the prophet, "Then said I, 'Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God'" (Ps. 40:6-9; Heb. 10:7). One was the Husbandman, while the other was the Branch (Jn. 15:1).

One was taught the truth by the other (Jn. 6:28). One was, and is, kept alive by the other (Jn. 5:26; 6:57). In all things, the Son is subservient to the Father, for, although all power in heaven and in earth has been given to the Son, it is obvious that He who gave the Son that power did not submit himself to His own Son (1Cor. 15:27). Every knee shall indeed bow (Phip. 2:10), except the knee of the Father. He certainly will not bow to the Son. Quite the contrary, in the end, "shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (1Cor. 15:28).