It is important we understand that God's Son is also GOD.
The word 'God' is used a number of ways and to some people it becomes confusing. Although it is a title, we often use it as a proper name. We all understand this, and when used as such, there is no confusion.
But when we say Jesus is God, it means different things to different people. To some it means He is the co-equal, co-eternal second person of the Trinity. To others it means He is divine or deity, like His Father.
In Hebrews, the Father says, "when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him." Hebrews 1:6. Obviously the Son is divine for God to command worship.
In John's gospel, the first verse clearly says, "the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. A Trinitarian will see this as saying the Word is co-equal and co-eternal with 'the God' in the verse.
Our pioneers saw the word 'God' relating to the Word as meaning He is divine or has the qualities or attributes of deity. Obviously the Word must be divine as, "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." John 1:3.
Let us think about the Word, who, according to verse 14 is"the only begotten of the Father".
Our prophet asked the question: "Who is Christ?"
Then she answers it: "He is the only begotten Son of the living God. He is to the Father as a word that expresses the thought -- as a thought made audible. Christ is the Word of God." Reflecting Christ p15.
And again, "Christ said to Philip, 'He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.' His words were the echo of God's words. Christ was the likeness of God, the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person." Sons and Daughter of God p21.
Here Sister White is referring to the One who the angels were to worship.
Repeating the thought of the previous references, she says, "By coming to dwell with us, Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels. He was the Word of God -- God's thought made audible."Desire of Ages p20.
Look at those words again -- God's thought made audible.
God is a divine Being for whom the past, present and future are the same. This means that His Son, as a thought, was always present in His mind, but not until He was brought forth by the Father, did the Son have an individual life of His own.
This is clearly stated by our prophet: “The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, but not in personality.” E.G. White. MS 116. Dec 19. 1905. This has been discussed on another page 'The Father's Son'.
Was the Son 'truly God in infinity' because He was in the Father's mind? No, the thought belonged to the Father, not the Son.
When the Son was brought forth, He received the same God-nature as His Father, and His eternal Spirit.
The Son was "the brightness of his (the Father's) glory, and the express image of his (the Father's) person." Hebrews 1:3. He was "made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Hebrews 1:4. He received the name of His Father -- God, and the right to be called His Son. Please note that when He came to this world He was "made a little lower than the angels..." Hebrews 2:9. Chapter 1 is Christ's heavenly Sonship; Chapter 2 is His earthly Sonship.
To be the Creator, as the apostle John stated, the Son needed to be omnipotent, all-powerful. This is an attribute of God the Father; and it must be an attribute of His Son for Him to bring forth the worlds by the word of His mouth.
The Son also received immortal life, the life that cannot die. "For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself..." John 5:26. "He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality." Desire of Ages. p787.
"'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,' Christ declares; 'no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.' Christ is invested with power to give life to all creatures... It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' Christ is not here referring to his doctrine, but to His person, the divinity of His character." Review and Herald. April 5. 1906.
"In him (Christ) was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. 'I lay it down of myself.' (John 10: 18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man." 1 Selected Messages 297. (It is this life that is given to us as a free gift when we accept Christ as our Saviour) Signs of the Times. Apr 8.1897.
Thus we can see that God's Son has the nature of His Father, a God-nature. We do not understand the divine nature, but clearly Christ possessed the nature of deity.
Our prophet said: "Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father -- one in nature, in character, in purpose -- the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God." Patriarchs and Prophets p34.
The Son also received the Spirit of His Father. The Spirit of God is His very being. To the woman at the well Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24. Some say the Greek does not have the word 'a', so it would read 'God is Spirit'. It has been said God does not need a body, but this is pure speculation. The fact is that He does have a body. The Anglican Church says God is "without body, parts, or passions". Thirty Nine Articles. First article on the Trinity. Anglican Book of Common Prayer. All we know is that God is a spiritual Being, but He does have a body.
We also know He has a Spirit that emanates from His Being. This has been discussed under 'Who is God?' and 'What is the Light?' If you read through every verse in the Bible mentioning the word 'spirit' you will see over and over again that God has a Spirit. For instance, He said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man..." Genesis 6:3. Even in the first chapter of the Bible it says, "The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2. "Wither shall I flee from thy spirit?" Psalm 139:7.
In our study of the Spirit, we cannot go beyond the words of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, but it is clear that God's Son received the Spirit of the Father when He was begotten.
"All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." John 16:15.
The Spirit "proceedeth from the Father", and it is the Son who gives it to us. John 15:26. Although the Bible doesn't use the words "proceeds from the Son", it is clear that is does, for the Spirit is also called "the Spirit of Christ" in a number of verses. In fact, the thought is interchanged in Romans.
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you.... But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead..." Romans 8:9-11. Also Col 1:27. 1 Peter 1:11.
To return to the thought at the beginning -- God's Son is GOD.
Although He had a beginning as an individual person at some point in eternity, the Spirit He received from His Father is eternal, without beginning. It is the Spirit of the God of the universe. The omnipotent power, omniscient knowledge, and immortal life of the Son is also from the Father.
The Son is called God by His own Father, when He said, "Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever..." Hebrews 1:8.
The names of the Father can be given to the Son, except that one is the Father; the other the Son. The Son is begotten; the Father is not. The Father is King of the universe; the Son is King of this earth. The Son is the Redeemer, a work given to Him by His Father.
When Moses saw the burning bush, He heard the voice of the Son saying, "I AM THAT I AM..."
"It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, 'I AM THAT I AM...' Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."Exodus 3:14.
This name can certainly be used for the Father, but it is also applicable to the Son who has His Father's divine and eternal attributes. The words are often translated to mean, "I am who I am", but a lecturer in Semetic language at the University of Olso said it is more correct to say, "I will be what I will be".
Remember that the Son of God is GOD. It is His nature, but being a Son does not make Him a lesser God than His Father. In nature, they are equal. This is how the Son is truly God in infinity.
The texts in Timothy can refer to both the Father and the Son. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.... which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords; 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 1:17. 6:16. 1 Selected Messages p297.
Although the text primarily refers to the Father, it also applies to the Son. It is the Father who dwells in the light which no man can approach, but the Son is seated at His right hand, and in His heavenly glory, we have not seen Him. Everything in the text can refer to both the Father and the Son.
The Leader of Israel was God's Son. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called." Isaiah 54:5.
You and I can fall at His feet, as did Thomas, and exclaim, "My Lord and My God." It does not take anything away from the truth that God the Father is 'the' God and King of the universe, and Jesus Christ is His Son.
So let us worship our Saviour.
Godhood