The first Person in the Godhead is the Father. This name may be viewed
(_a_) with reference to the second Person, Jesus Christ His only
Son, or (_b_) as descriptive of His relation to believers in Christ
Jesus, or (_c_) as indicating His universal Fatherhood as the
Author and the Preserver of all intelligent creatures. The relation in
which the Father stands to the Son, that He is His Father and has
begotten Him, is one that we cannot explain. Any attempt to do so must
be arrogant and misleading, for who "by searching can find out
God"?[020] Secret things belong unto God, but revealed things unto us
and our children.[021] The term "Father" is a relative one and involves
the idea of sonship. No one who accepts the teaching of Scripture can
doubt that the Father is God. The statements as to His attributes and
universal government are so many and so strong that, but for other
affirmations regarding Deity, we should naturally conclude that the
Father alone is God. But the very name "Father" corrects such a view,
and when we search the Scriptures we find it untenable. God is our
Father, but He was "the Father" before He called man into being. From
all eternity He was Father. As from everlasting to everlasting He is
God, so from everlasting to everlasting He is Father. He did not become
Father when His Son assumed human nature, but is such in virtue of His
eternal relation to the Word as the Son of God. It is the Son's
existence that constitutes Him Father; and that existence was in
eternity. "I and my Father are one,"[022] is the Son's testimony to His
eternal Sonship; and when He prays His Father to glorify Him, He asks to
be glorified with the glory which He had with Him before the world
was.[023] There are other senses in which the first Person of the
Godhead is termed Father. All men are declared to be His offspring, and
those who have received the Spirit of adoption cry, "Abba, Father," and
are taught, when they pray, to say, "Our Father."
In an exposition of the Creed the Fatherhood in relation to men
generally, or to believers in particular, need not be considered. Here
the name is used to indicate the relation in which the First Person
stands to the Second, in virtue of which alone those who are adopted
into fellowship with the Son become the children of God--the children
of Christ's Father and their Father. The Scriptures teach that the
Father is God, that the Son is God, and that the Holy Ghost is God. At
the same time the doctrine of the Divine Unity is affirmed.
The difficulty felt in connection with the doctrine of Trinity in Unity
has led to attempts in ancient and modern times to show that those
passages of Scripture in which it appears to be taught may be otherwise
interpreted. One explanation is, from the name of its first exponent,
termed Sabellianism, or, the doctrine of a Modal Trinity. The view which
it presents of the Divine Being is that the same Person manifests
Himself at one time and in one relation as Father, at another time and
in another relation as Son, and at a different time and in another
relation as Holy Ghost. It attributes divinity to this One Divine Person
in each of His manifestations, but denies that there are three Persons
in the Godhead. The facts of Scripture do not accord with such a view of
the Divine Personality. We find each Person addressing the Others and
speaking of Himself and of Them as distinct Persons. Each speaking of
Himself says "I." The Father says "Thou" to the Son, the Son says "Thou"
to the Father, and the Father and the Son use the pronouns "He" and
"Him" with reference to the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, the Son
loves the Father, the Spirit testifies of the Son.[024]
In the Athanasian Creed we find the following statement of this
doctrine:--
"This is the Catholic Faith, that we worship one God in Trinity,
and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons nor
dividing the Substance. For the Person of the Father is one, of
the Son another, of the Holy Ghost another. But the divinity of
the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost is one, the glory
equal, the majesty equal. Such as is the Father, such also is
the Son, and such the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the
Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is
infinite, the Son is infinite, the Holy Ghost is infinite. The
Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Ghost is
eternal. And yet these are not three eternal Beings but one
eternal Being. As also there are not three uncreated beings, nor
three infinite beings, but one uncreated and one infinite
Being."
It is sometimes said that the doctrine of the Trinity is of little
practical importance, but such a view of it is inconsistent with the
teaching of Scripture, and with the atoning work of Christ. It is the
Divinity of the Son that gives efficacy to His sacrifice. As sinners we
need pardon. Pardon must be preceded by propitiation, and if Christ is
not Divine there is no propitiation. The doctrines of Scripture are so
linked together that the rejection of one invalidates the others. If we
deny the Trinity we deny the Gospel message of salvation, and we
accordingly find that most of those who reject the doctrine of the
Trinity do not believe in the reality and efficacy of Christ's
atonement.