One God and Father — Tim Conway

The Sevenfold Foundation of Christian Unity

Ephesians 4, beginning in v. 4. Just mention v. 3, the charge, the exhortation from Paul is that we would be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. And now v. 4, 5, and 6, that foundation upon which our unity is established.

There is one Body and one Spirit just as You were called to the one hope that belongs to Your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Father, we look to You. I just ask You, give us revelation about Yourself. You designed mankind to worship, to want to love, to want to be awed by, to want to find worth in something. You've designed us that way.

And I would just ask You, please show us the mercy of revealing Yourself that we would be blown away, that we would see our God bigger than ever. I pray this in Christ's name, Amen. Okay, v. 6, that's where we find ourselves.

One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Now notice, just follow the sweep here. One body, one Spirit. It makes you almost wonder, why didn't He put one Spirit before one body?

Anyway, the body comes maybe because His whole point is unity. The verses tend to categorize for us, but maybe that's not exactly... maybe one body should have actually been back in the previous verse.

Perhaps. To where you get this idea of eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there is isn't even in the original. It's one body. Maybe that should be grouped there. And then you go to the idea of one Spirit, one hope.

I don't know. I mean, these divisions aren't in the original. But this you know. You get one Spirit early and then you get one Lord. I think if we're honest with these three verses, there's a sort of crescendo happening here.

That's the feel. Paul is moving. Paul is moving upward. Does anybody else feel that? There is a progression however you want to look at this. It seems like there's a steady increase higher and higher to this climax of one God and Father Who is over all, through all, in all.

There's a sense that in certain ways... I think we have to admit this. Let's just be honest with Scripture. We can get so hung up with the way that reformed theologians express the Trinity. We can get so hung up with that that sometimes we're almost afraid to talk the way the Bible talks.

But I think if we're honest, in certain ways, even the one Spirit and the one Lord, they're subordinate. They give place to the supremacy of God the Father. Yes, the Spirit, the Lord, they're in here.

One Spirit. One Lord. And that's crucial. They're glorious. They bind us together. They're part of this foundation that unifies us all. There's no doubt about that. But there is this sense that it's never adequate to stop there.

It's not adequate to say one Spirit and stop or one Spirit and one Lord and stop there. We must go higher. Paul won't let us stay there. He takes us further. And there's a feel from Scripture that you have this sort of centrality, a supremacy, a primacy with the Father that we can't get away from.

This isn't the only place in Scripture where we feel this. And I want you to feel it. Turn in your Bibles to John 17. We're going to dart around different places in the New Testament right now. But I want you to get this feel for this.

The Father's Primacy in Jesus's High Priestly Prayer

I know you know this, but you know what? Because of our doctrine of the Trinity, because sometimes we're so emphasized in articulating the Trinity that we're almost afraid to speak like the Bible speaks.

And I want us to be honest with the way the Bible speaks. John 17. When you enter into this 17th chapter of John, Jesus, the high priestly prayer. Listen to v. 1. Look at it. When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify Your Son. Now if we only just stopped right there, we have to admit that even that designation Father and Son, you get even a sense there. Not to take away from their equality, but you do get a sense when we talk Father and Son that there's a rank, there's an order.

There's no question about that. But let's go even further. Jump to v. 3. This is eternal life that they know You. Just stop and think about this. Jesus is speaking. He's praying to His Father. And He addresses His Father as the only true God.

Amen. But listen, eternal life is not just coming to a knowledge of You, the only true God Who He's addressing as His Father and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent. Now here's the thing, if you and I were writing this, I don't think us Trinitarian Christians would write that statement the way that Jesus articulates it.

Right? I mean, seriously, if we were writing this, if I was, I probably would say something in the order of this is life eternal to know God the Father and God the Son. That's probably how I would say it.

And I'd put the Father first to establish the hierarchy, but I'd make certain that I had God in there to identify both of them. And yet, Christ Himself doesn't speak like that. And you know what's... I mean, listen, He's saying, Father, You're the only true God.

And we look at that and we say, wait, what? And He describes Himself as Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to say He only describes Himself as that. No, you don't want to say that. Jesus Christ means Yahweh saves.

He is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the Anointed One. I mean, He's not giving Himself some minimalistic title. You don't want to think that. But what ought to jump out at you is Jesus the Son looks to the Father and He says, You are the only true God.

The One God and the One Mediator

Now, 1 Timothy 2 .5. This happens again. And we come across these verses and I think a lot of times we go across and we're right to constantly be thinking and checking our doctrine by other verses in the Bible.

You don't want to establish all of your doctrine on any single verse, but you want to establish your doctrine on every verse. And you don't want to ignore any verses. And we don't want to ignore this.

And I know we don't ignore this. But listen to 1 Timothy 2 .5. Again, you've got this idea. There is one God. There is one God and Father of all. Jesus says, looking to His Father, the only true God. We have here again, there is one God and there is one Mediator between God and man.

Now see, again, if I was writing this, I would say, okay, you've got God over here. You've got man over here. Jesus is the Mediator who reconciles them both. Don't we like to really emphasize? See, it took one who is both God and man to bring God and man together.

And we say that. And we're right to say that. But isn't it interesting, when Paul wants to articulate this, he doesn't say that. I'm just saying, he doesn't say the God-man Christ Jesus. And what's apparent is this.

You say, why? Well, the reason is this, because in the divine purpose, the Holy Spirit in having Paul, carrying Paul along to write this, he doesn't want to emphasize the deity of Christ here. Christ's humanity is obviously the issue.

The man Christ Jesus. And also the one Godness of the Father. How can this be? Well, listen, there are mysteries in the Trinity. And the fact is, this does not negate the fact that there are other verses where the Spirit does carry the Author along to emphasize that Jesus Christ is God.

There's no question. But if we're trying to protect the doctrine of the Trinity, why are there verses like this? Because the Spirit's primary goal is not always to protect the doctrine of the Trinity.

It's to magnify other aspects. But this looking at the Father by Jesus Christ and saying you're the one true God. I just find that wonderful. I find that glorious. Another verse. We looked at this several weeks back when we did one Lord, but let's look at it again.

The Father and the Son in 1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8. 1 Corinthians 8. I mean, this idea of the Father being the one true God actually comes at us repeated times throughout Scripture. And I'm just kind of wanting to bring a number of them together right now just so you get a feel for this.

1 Corinthians 8. Let's pick up in v. 4. Therefore, as to eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence. So we already know what's on the table. He's talking about the gods, the idols of the heathen, of the pagans.

And then he says this, we know that an idol has no real existence and we know this, there is no God but One. For although there are many so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, there is one God.

The Father. From Whom are all things, for Whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things and through Whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. And I think we want to possess this knowledge.

A feel of this. Now listen, I already articulated this, but make sure you see this. When Scripture asserts that there's no God but One, this is being said in opposition to the gods whom the heathen worshiped.

This is not being said in opposition to Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit being God. You see what's on the table. It's the gods of the pagans that he is comparing here. Listen, Scripture says that when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Spirit of God, they lied to God.

Scripture expressly calls Jesus the I Am. You read John 8. Before Abraham was, I Am. You go back to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. The mighty God. I remember Al Martin articulating that. El Gabor, he would say.

He is the mighty God. You come to Scripture, the term Phaos. God. He is called God. Equality with God is attributed to Him. But here's the thing, we have to admit that when all three Persons are presented to us, Spirit, Lord, Father.

The Spirit, the Son, the Father. We have to admit that like in Ephesians 4, the term God, the title God is attributed only to the Father with almost no exception. Almost. But the title of God gets bestowed to the Father, not the other two.

And now notice something else about 1 Corinthians 8. Look at the prepositions. Now I find this very interesting. Notice how Paul articulates this. Now I recognize prepositions can get translated different.

And I know that the King James Version has... you look at different versions and you're going to see little differences to the way that these prepositions... But isn't it interesting how Paul says what he says?

Notice v. 6. There is one God, the Father, from Whom are all things and for Whom we exist or in Whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ through Whom are all things and through Whom we exist. Don't you love that?

Like what? Just a twist of preposition. But they're not the same prepositions. There's a difference here. Does that mean anything? Well, I think it means a lot. Basically, what you have is this. God the Father is the Originator.

Everything comes from Him and in the end is to Him or for Him. Of Jesus Christ, it says through Him. Now I find that very interesting because you know what it makes me think of? The text there right at the beginning of Hebrews 1.

Just listen to this. Don't flip over there. But it says that long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But you know what it says? It says that in these last days, now notice this, in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son.

You keep reading there and it says whom He appointed the heir of all things through whom He created the world. Now I think this is extremely interesting because what Scripture does is it shows the Father as being like the source, the fountainhead, the Originator.

And what He does, He does through the Son. He speaks through the Son. He speaks. He creates through the Son. Those are the differences in preposition that you get. Who did it? The Father or the Son? The Father through the Son.

But you know what Scripture never says? The Son through the Father. It doesn't say that. You see, there's a primacy given to the Father. There's an origination. There's a centrality. There's a starting point that I think we all have to admit.

The Father as God of Christ and Lord of History

Let's go down to John 20. You remember this. Remember Mary Magdalene? Thinking He's the gardener. Supposing Him to be the gardener. Where have you taken Him? If you've done something with Him, tell Me, show Me.

She recognizes. Rabboni. And you know what He says? Listen to what He says. John 20 v. 17 Go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God. Have you ever considered this?

He says, My God. God is our Lord's God. And it's like God, He looks at Him, the one true God. He is even the one true God to Jesus Himself. That's what we find. Again, you just notice this primacy, this supremacy given to the Father that we can't get away from.

The Godhead starts with one God and Father. And He is over all. The Father. You think of what Scripture says. What does a father do? A father begets the Son. Jesus says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father.

You never see anything like that. It's said opposite. The Spirit doesn't beget the Father or beget the Son. The Father and Son don't proceed from the Spirit. There is a source. There is an origin within the Godhead.

That's what we find. The Father is the great center, the fountain from which all else flows. And then like Paul was saying, everything in the end is for Him. And you see, this reality really emphasized there in 1 Corinthians 15.

Turn there. 1 Corinthians 15. We'll pick up reading in v. 24. Paul is having to step back and look at the big picture of this whole creation. What do we find? Then comes the end. Can't get away from that.

The end is coming. There's this age and the age to come. This age is going to come to an end. Notice, when that end comes, when He, Christ, delivers the Kingdom to God the Father. That's who's being talked about here.

He delivers the Kingdom to His Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. And if you jump down to v. 27, for God the Father, that's who's being talked about. "...Has put all things in subjection under Christ's feet.".

But when it says all things are put into subjection, it's plain that He, that's God the Father, is accepted. He is never placed in submission under the Son. He's accepted. The One is accepted who put all things in subjection.

See, it's the Father who's determining this. The Father is directing this. He puts all things in subjection under Christ. V. 28, when all things are subjected to Him, God the Father, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the Father who put all things in subjection under Christ, that God may be all in all.

The Father, undoubtedly supreme. One God and Father of all who is over all, through all, in all. Yet, Jesus Christ clearly in Scripture is declared to be equal to the Father. You say, where? John 5 .18, Philippians 2.

He is. And we don't want to get away from that. The Apostle Paul who is speaking right here in Romans 9, he says this, the Christ who is God over all. You like that? Blessed forever. Amen. Is there a mystery here?

The Mystery of the Trinity in Christian Unity

I just know this. We are getting... I mean, when Brandon said we're looking in this glass darkly or in a polished metal, we are going to be blown away by what this Trinity is really like. We're getting glimpses, but even in the glimpses, I think that the Bible writers are being stretched.

They're seeking to use language that we can relate to. Brethren, we're united together in the mysteries. This is the issue. The one God and Father unites us. And we're united together in the mysteries of the Trinity.

Listen, we are monotheistic. One God. We're required to come to that conclusion by Scripture itself. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, or our God, the Lord is one. That's what Scripture says. And yet, God identifies Him.

You know what happens in the very first chapter of Scripture? Let us make God in... our image. Our likeness. That's what it says. And even think about the way we baptize. Today, we baptize you in the name.

The name. There is one name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Not three names. One name. Three persons. Each individually called God in Scripture. Each fully God. The old translators refer to this as the Godhead.

Three are one in the eternal Godhead. God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. We sang about that. It is a Trinity in unity. It is a tri-unity. We have a tri-three personal personages. A tri-personal God.

That's what we see. Though they share the same nature and essence of God, God the Father is not the same person as either God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. What does Scripture say? There is one Spirit and there is one Lord and there is one God and Father of all.

They're one and yet distinctly separate so as to be able to interact with each other. What do we find in Scripture? The Father sends the Son. The Son sends the Spirit. The Spirit proceeds from the Father.

The Spirit descends upon the Son. The Father speaks to the Son. The Son speaks to the Father. The Spirit speaks about the Son. We're told the Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. The Father calls the Son God.

The Son calls the Father God. The Spirit calls Himself God. There's a relationship and a communion within this Godhead. You know, we don't have the lonely God. There's a fellowship and there's a delight in that fellowship.

Not the lonely. And you know what we don't want? We don't want anybody in our church contributing to modalism. And we've had that in the past. Sometimes I think you don't have people that are trying to go wrong on the Trinity, but have you ever heard somebody pray and they're addressing God the Father and they say thank You for dying for us?

Or something like that? I've heard that. Don't pray that way. Because that's not true. God the Father did not die for you. The Lord Jesus Christ died for you. We're not modalists. What's modalist? That's basically one person who presents himself to mankind in three modes or three forms or three manifestations.

We have three personalities that love each other. Jesus isn't saying when He says He loves His Father that He loves Himself. There is love between these persons. There's interaction between these persons in the Trinity.

That modalism is bad theology. But here, brethren, I speak carefully. We're unified by the primacy of God the Father that we see in Ephesians. And I speak carefully. We must not start with the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are very Christocentric. And I've felt this ever since we started the Ephesian letter. Do you know it was difficult for me to find five songs that I hoped would all lend themselves to the Father, and yet, how many of them can't even focus on the Father.

They've got to split away and go to the Son. Look, that doesn't mean that there aren't more songs out there that I think we probably ought to richen our repertoire with. But we don't want to stop with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Father's Work in Ephesians

It's Christian preaching to preach the way Paul presents the Ephesian letter. Go to Ephesians 1. You need to remember this, that when Paul stepped into this letter, his emphasis was not initially on the Son.

Yes, there's mention. And yes, all of this is in Him, in Christ, in Christ Jesus. I recognize that. But it's the action of the Father that he focuses on first. He gets to the work of the Son. Yes, he does.

Especially in chapter 2. In the later half. But listen, remember v. 3, chapter 1 of Ephesians. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what was it? What does He tell us? It's the Father who has blessed us.

Yes, it's in Christ. We never want to get away from that. Yes, we need to be Christocentric. There's no doubt about that. But listen, He goes to the Father. He tells us about the work of the Father. It is the Father who blesses us.

It's the Father who chooses us. It's before the foundation of the world. It's the Father who predestines us. V. 5, it's the Father who adopts us. V. 5, it's according to the purpose of His will. V. 5, it's to the praise of the Father's glorious grace.

V. 6, He has blessed us in the Beloved. And if you jump over to Ephesians 2 even, you remember we're dead in trespasses and sins and all this, and when you break out of it, who's the one acting? It's the Father.

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, what did He do? He made us alive together with Christ. He raised us up together with Christ.

He seated us in the heavenly places together with Christ. Yes, Christ is there. Yes, there's no access to the Father except through Christ. Yes, Christ is central to our approach. But you have to remember, He's not the end in all of this.

What does Scripture say? Scripture says He died up there on that tree, that just for the unjust to bring us to God. It's to bring us to the Father. Don't forget that. There is a centrality here. There is a glory.

There is a beauty. Now let's turn our attention to the word all. Go back to Ephesians 4 .6. One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. What does all mean? We say this four times.

Just remember this. This is the climax of Paul's appeal to the Ephesian Christians to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The unity within the one body. When he says that we have one Spirit, it's one Spirit that we all have that are in the one body.

The Fatherhood of God Belongs to Believers

One Lord. Again, it's that unifying reality. When he says one God and Father of all, is he making any statement about some universal fatherhood of all of mankind? Don't believe that. Listen, Jesus Himself said, you caught it in what brother Matt read there in 1 John.

There are children of God and there are children of the devil. And Jesus said you're of your father, the devil. You see, the one Father of all. The all here. Clearly, this is what makes this so gloriously unifying.

He's speaking of all of us Christians and no one else. Just think of the last preposition in v. 6.

In all.

God is in all. That's not some pantheistic statement. That is an expressly, exclusively biblical concept. Craig probably some months ago dealt with the text that to be Christ in you, the hope of glory, Christ in you.

You see, that's a Christian concept. Or you think about the Spirit. The way that Paul argued there in 1 Corinthians 6. What did he say? He said you're God's temple. God's Spirit dwells in you. When we're talking about one God and Father of all Who is in all, this is not a universal statement about all of creation.

Nor is it some sort of universal fatherhood of God among all men. This is a statement, remember, that unifies the people of God. This is like, remember, back to those words. Jesus said to Mary, go tell My brothers, My God, My Father.

Your God, Your Father. Go tell My brothers, Your Father. That's the idea here. That's the idea behind all. A uniquely Christian expression. I mean, the thing is, I can find in the Old Testament where God is called Father.

The book of Malachi. But the Jews did not call God Father. Catholics, yeah, they may once in a while throw that term around, but they focus on the Mother. Muslims do not call Allah Father because He's not a Father.

He's not a Father figure. We have one God and Father of all. This is Christian expression to say you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom you cry, Abba, Father. Notice, it says Father of all. Wouldn't you like that?

Father of all. God is not like a Father. He is a Father. He is a Father to every one of His children. To all. That's so unifying. Christian. Christian. Are you single? He's your Father. Are your children lost?

He's your Father. I mean, Christian, do you feel empty, forgotten, lonely, despised, suffering, cold, distant? You have to hear it. He's Father of all. Sometimes we look at it and we say, oh, but my brother or sister, they had this certain experience.

He's a Father to all. He's a Father to all that come to Him by Christ Jesus. Through Christ, we have access in one Spirit to the Father. If your trust is in Christ, you have access. It doesn't matter if somebody has experienced something else or if they're on the mountaintop right now or if God has seemingly given them blessings that you don't have.

He is a Father to all. And I'll tell you this, you are in the palm of His hand and nobody plucks you out. He guards you. He protects you. He knows you. What did Jesus say? There in Matthew 6, He said, when it comes to clothes, when it comes to food, He said your Father knows what you have need of.

He's mindful. He knows what you need. So often we feel like He's not giving us what we think He should give us so we feel like we're somehow a stepchild. No, there's one God and Father of all. And I've heard certain Christians, I've heard some Christians just recently tell me that at certain points in their Christian life, they were confronted by certain trials or certain situations where they felt like they might even fall away.

The Father's Love Sustains Believers

You know what? Jesus is talking to His disciples one day. You know the day. His last day. His last day before the cross. His last day before the grave. And you know what He said to them? He said, guys, I'm telling you what I'm telling you so that you won't fall away.

And do you know one of the things that He told them so that they not fall away? He says in that day, you're going to ask in My name. And He said this, I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

You ever read that? If you just stopped right there, it's like what? He's saying to them, that's going to cause me to not fall away, Lord? That You're not going to intercede for me? Which isn't what He's saying.

That's not the emphasis there. But He says to them, I'm not saying to you that I'm going to ask the Father on your behalf. What? Why? And He comes back with this, because the Father Himself loves you.

Now, of course, that came just as fast as the rest, so they didn't have really time to stop like I did there. But you just think about that. What Jesus is saying is this, is look guys, you know that I've loved you.

He showed that to them. He expressed His love to them. He convinced them of His love. But what He was saying as He's getting ready to go away so that they not fall away, My Father's love for you is sufficient for God to act on your behalf, whether I'm there or not.

Oh, He'd be there. He wasn't going to leave us. He'd still intercede for us. But the Father Himself loves you. Now, here's the thing, we're talking about unity. What unifies us more than that? The Father loves you.

Yes, brethren, we want to focus on Christ. But I fear, I really do fear, that we are in a day, and I feel it in our own church, that we focus on Christ so much. And I'm not saying we forget the Father.

But the Bible doesn't forget the Father. He is the one true God. He is the one God and Father. The one God. Jesus Christ reconciles us to Him. Jesus Christ removed the guilt to bring us to God and to bring us to His love.

That's the reality. That's the aim of this work. No one comes to the Father. See, that's the issue of salvation. Why does Jesus say that? I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father but through Me.

Except through Me. But you see, that's the whole point of salvation. Jesus said, I am the door. We need the door. But we don't want to stay at the door. We must not stop at the door. And Christ Himself doesn't want us to stop at the door.

He brings us to God. That's what the rending of the veil. Through Him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Remember those words. The Father Himself loves you. And you know, it can almost seem like you think about the Father and His love and His offering up of His own Son.

It can almost seem like an easy thing for God to sacrifice His Son. I mean, you think, God did it. God is sovereign. God is God. He's not man. There's so much argue today about whether God can feel passions.

There's mysteries about God. But I find God rejoicing in Scripture. I find God grieved in Scripture. But with God's sovereignty, with God's power, with God's vastness, I mean, sometimes it can be very difficult and hard for us to imagine that there'd be any difficulty with God in offering up His Son.

It's hard to conceive that God is able to experience pain or that His love could be severely tested. I just, in all of Scripture,.

One little word. God so loved.

It's like we're just kind of kept honestly on the outside.

What is that? You need to remember this.

When you think about the Father's love. Sin did not kill Jesus Christ. Your Father killed Jesus Christ. He, Scripture says, who did not spare His own Son. Why? One God and Father of all. Why didn't He spare Him?

He gave Him up. What does it say? For us all.

It's the same. For us all. Or you think of what even Isaiah said in the Old Testament. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The Father Himself loves you. He says, I will strike the shepherd. I will crush him.

It was the predeterminate counsel of God. God did this. God gave His Son. For our sake, He made Him to be sin. For our sake, us all, the Father Himself loves you. And you say, I want to see Him. Jesus' own disciples said that.

Seeing the Father Through the Son

Philip, Jesus had talked so much about the Father. Think about this. If Jesus was the preacher here and you sat under His preaching, you know what desire He left His disciples with in the end right before He was ready to leave?

Lord, we have one desire. We want to see the Father. And He said, you've seen Him. What? Where? If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.