Who is Biblically Described as God, or the Deity?

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WHEN ADVENTISTS REFER TO “GOD” WHOM DO THEY MEAN?

Carefully note that the Adventist Church uses the word “God” to mean: (1) the person of “the Father”, and (2) the class of Heavenly persons who have the ‘divine nature’ (or ‘Godhead’), or natural divine substance, and is called “the Deity”.
The truth is that “God” for the Adventist refers to He who is called and identified by *the Bible as “LORD (Jehovah) God”, or “the I AM”. Principally and ultimately this refers to “the Father”, but carefully note the following inescapable truth. Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 distinctly declares that Satan will ‘oppose’, through false religion, * “ALL [plural] that is called God or that is worshipped”. Who is “called God”, and is to be “worshipped” or “served”, according to the Bible? Many fail to recognize the truth here, even though they read this passage over and over. This verse refers to the true God, not to false gods, despite various Bible commentaries have literally so translated this verse, simply because they recognize the inescapable, inherent or internal plural element in this verse. It is obvious that Satan would not “oppose” or “exalt himself” above false gods (his own inventions) since they fulfill his purpose, but clearly he has and always will continue be opposed to “ ALL that is called God” in the true and highest sense. Mrs. White sheds light on this verse in Chapter 3 of the book “Great Controversy”, by relating it specifically to the Jehovah Godhead. After quoting this verse, Mrs. White re-worded the very same verse this way:

“…Compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in… ‘the man of sin’ foretold in prophecy OPPOSING AND EXALTING HIMSELF AGAINST *GOD” [not ‘gods’, but the proper noun “God”].
-E.G. White- Great Controversy

See the first page, and pages 50-51, of Chapter 3 (or the whole chapter) of that book for confirmation of this truth. Yet notice that this verse distinctly refers to “all that is called God or that is worshipped”, a *PLURAL reference. The truth here is inescapable! The Apostle Paul knew that “GOD” to the Christian couldn’t be known or worshipped without an acceptance of the Father through the Son by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Three Persons in the Godhead. Why? A few quotes will make you see the truth.

1. “Thou shalt worship the Lord (Jehovah) thy God [the Father] and Him *only shalt thou serve”- Jesus- Matthew 4:10

2. “And Thomas answered and said unto Him [Jesus] *MY LORD (Jehovah) and MY GOD [‘O Theos mou’, or ‘the God of me’]. Jesus said unto him, Thomas because thou hast seen ME, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen ME and yet have believed”[do you?]
- John 20:28
“ And again, when HE [the Father] bringeth in the firstbegotten [Jesus] into the world [that is, into our world at Jesus’ incarnation], He saith, and let all the angels of God worship Him [Jesus, the man]”. –Hebrews 1:6

3. “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me’ and *HIS [the Spirit’s] word was in my tongue. The GOD of Israel [the Spirit] said, the Rock of Israel [the Spirit] spake by me...” David- 2 Samuel 23:2,3
“…Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost…thou hast not lied unto men but unto GOD [the Spirit]”. –Peter- Acts 5:3,4

But isn’t this confusing? Are there three (3) Lords (from "Kurios"), “LORD (Jehovah) God” or “God of Israel”? Is there more than one Person called “Jehovah God”? Are there others, in addition to the Father, truly called “GOD”, and “in the highest sense”, despite the Bible declare “one God, the Father”, as recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4 and 1Corintians 8:6? Let us see how Adventism historically saw the truth.
In 1872 Adventists declared in its ‘Fundamental Principles’ that, quote:
“There is One God, a personal spiritual being who is the Creator of all things…and is everywhere present by His Representative, the Holy Spirit”. However, the ‘official and inspired voice’ in Seventh-day Adventism subsequently (or later) made it clear that this *singular “PERSONAL GOD” exists from “all eternity” as a * “UNITY OF CHRIST WITH HIS FATHER”. Yes, a UNITY!! Here is this amazing truth again for you to contemplate dear reader:
***“The existence of a [singular] Personal God [not ‘personal Gods’] the UNITY OF Christ with His Father [a plurality of Persons] lies at the foundation of all true science [and true religion]”-E.G. White- Manuscript 30, Oct. 29,1904- quoted in “The Upward Look”(1986), pg. 316.

Note- Mrs. White commissioned a board of trustees to manage and publish even her unpublished writings. So the above quote is also pertinent and inspired, NOT ANOMALOUS!!

So the truth is that both Paul (1 Cor. 8:6) and ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ (Mrs. White’s writings) instruct the Seventh-day Adventist Church to recognize, by the authority of ‘scripture compared with scripture’, that our “Personal God” is clearly the Father, who has always been revealed in a UNITY with His eternal Son, and this “Personal God” is everywhere present by His very real and ‘Personal’ Representative, the Holy Spirit! The Three CANNOT be separated. This means that if the true God of the Bible is to be known and worshipped, one Person of the Godhead cannot be known without accepting and “serving” the others. That is why the Christian experience of God MUST be through the recognition of a ‘TRI-UNITY’ (unity of a “Trio” of Persons) in the Godhead. THE EARLIST CHRISTIANS NEVER FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THIS.
Clearly “GOD” is the Father, “Jehovah” or the “I AM” by name, but is eternally and inseparably united with His Spirit and His Son, who are also “GOD” in nature and authority. The Person we now know as Jesus is the Eternal Son. He is also “truly God” in the “highest sense”. He is “THE ONLY ONE PERFECT PHOTOGRAPH OF GOD” (said E.G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, pg. 906). As a separate Person, He functions as “the Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6) and, “from all eternity”, is Himself also called “Jehovah” or the “I AM”, seemingly given this name, BUT “from all eternity” by the Father. Note the following Biblical truth, and supporting “Spirit of Prophecy” testimony:

“But unto the Son [Jesus] He [the Father] saith, Thy throne *O God is forever…And Thou *LORD [“Jehovah”- from Ps. 102:1, 25] in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth ”-Hebrews 1:8,10.

“Hosea will tell you, He [Jesus] is ‘the LORD [Jehovah] God of Hosts, The LORD [the name Jehovah] is His memorial’, Hosea 12:5”
E.G. White- Desire of Ages, pg. 578-579

So it becomes clear that Jesus, by a “mysterious” eternal unity with the Father, is not just God in nature, having the true “God” identity (condition or nature) by way of His association and relationship with the Father, but is also “God” in equal *AUTHORITY and function , even though He is not the Father in Person (who is often just called “God”, simply because he never became man like Jesus). That is part of the “mystery of godliness”. Note carefully below how true Adventism sees Jesus as “God”:

“Think of the life of Moses…Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews says, ‘for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible [Hebrews 11:27]. Moses had a deep sense of the presence of GOD. He saw GOD. He was not only looking down through the ages to a Christ that would be revealed [God manifested], but [in reality, and at that very time] he saw Christ [God] in a special manner accompanying the children of Israel in all their travels [1Corintians10: 1-5]. God [Christ] was real to Him and present in his thoughts. When called upon to face danger…for Christ’s [God’s] sake, he was persevering… God [Christ] was to Him a present help in every time of need”.
-E.G. White-Letter 42, April 7, 1886; or in “The Upward Look” (1986) pg. 111.

“Papal [Roman Catholic] priests pretended… to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual ‘body and blood of *CHRIST’… with blasphemous presumption, they openly claim to the power of creating *GOD [Christ], the Creator of all things…”
-E.G. White- Great Controversy, pgs. 59-60

Notice that Mrs. White saw Jesus as God, to the point where the words “Christ” and “God” were interchangeable to her without any need for clarification. Jesus was, and is God, *just like the Father!! That is why the Pope could assume the place of God by pretending to be, not the Father, but another Jesus (2 Thess. 2:4), thus (in effect) equating himself with the Father. But the question is, was Jesus just “God” on earth on behalf of His (unseen) Father, or in His Father’s ‘absence’, but is not “God” in His Father’s presence along with Him in Heaven? Note again what Adventists really believe:

“From everlasting [Micah 5:2/Psalms 93:2] He [Jesus] was the Mediator of the Covenant [Hebrews 7:3]… was *GOD essentially and *IN THE HIGHEST [nothing higher] SENSE… [existing] from *ALL ETERNITY GOD OVER ALL [Rom. 9:5]… a distinct [separate] Person, yet one [united] with the Father”.
-E.G. White- Review and Herald, April, 1906

“The Son of God was the acknowledged *SOVEREIGN [‘supreme ruler’] of Heaven, *ONE [equal and united] in power and *AUTHORITY with the Father”. –E.G. White- Great Controversy, pg. 494

“Christ ascended to Heaven [after coming to earth as God] amidst a cloud of angels who glorified Him saying ‘who is this King of Glory?’ [so He is not just ‘Prince of Heaven’] And from thousand times ten thousands the answer comes, the LORD [Jehovah], *HE [Jesus] IS the King of Glory”.
-E.G. White- Signs of the Times, May 10, 1899 and *Desire of Ages, pgs. 832-833

That is very clear dear reader about Jesus and the Father * BOTH being recognized and served as “God over all” and as “Jehovah”. The fact that Jesus was pictured as being ‘given all things’ by the Father, does not diminish, even by one iota, His equality with the Father in the office of being “GOD over all”, and Him being such from *ALL eternity, whether He is in or out of the Father’s immediate presence. No true Adventist would deny this truth!
But the next obvious question is, WHY DO ADVENTISTS ALSO REGARD AND SERVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS GOD?Here is the absolute, undeniable historic and Biblical truth in the following references:

“When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy spirit, have pledged ourselves to *SERVE [worship] [1] God, the Father, [2] Christ and [thirdly] *THE HOLY SPIRIT, the Three Dignitaries [‘Persons of important position, high rank or office’-Oxford dictionary] and Powers of Heaven, pledge Themselves that every facility shall be given us if we carry out our…vows”
-E.G. White- Manuscript 85,1901

“God is Spirit…” -John 4:24
“The Lord is the Spirit…” - 2 Cor. 3:17,18
“The Spirit of the Lord [is]…The God of Israel… [and] the Rock of Israel…” –2 Samuel 23:2,3
“…To lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou has…lied to GOD” -Acts 5:3,4,9
“Thou shalt worship [only] the Lord thy God [who “is the Spirit”] and Him *only shalt thou *SERVE” [worship] -Matthew 4:10

Now *if the Holy Spirit is not to be “SERVED” Mrs. White was in serious error. But clearly she is not, since the Bible, as shown above, supported her, as is similarly the case with the modern Adventist. The above references, among others, clearly show why Mrs. White could make such an amazing statement. The Holy Spirit is God, seemingly even pictured literally as the Father Himself!! Notice carefully however that the Holy Spirit is mentioned separately and specifically by her to be worthy of ‘service’, due only to “all that is called God, or that is worshipped” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) in the Godhead. Much more will be said on the Holy Spirit, but later in this presentation. But for emphasis here, it must be reiterated that:
OUR “PERSONAL GOD” IS THE FATHER *IN UNITY WITH HIS ETERNAL SON, AND IS EVERYWHERE PRESENT BY THE REPRESENTATION OF THE “THIRD PERSON OF THE GODHEAD”, THE VERY REAL AND PERSONAL HOLY SPIRIT, WHO MUST ALSO BE “SERVED” AS GOD!
Put another way, the Three Persons are called “GOD” (in nature), not ‘gods’, because the One “true God” the Father is, by His very nature, revealed in and worshipped through His Eternal Son, and is present everywhere and “served” through His Holy Spirit, “the Third Person of the Godhead”.
This was the teaching of the earliest Christians *long before the Papacy and Roman Catholicism was born in the fourth century after Constantine became “Christian” (signaling the birth of Roman Catholicism). The historical evidence is undeniable:

100 A.D.
“Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to ‘baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,’ not unto one [one person, as in Sabellian ‘modalism’] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three [persons] possessed of *EQUAL HONOR”.
- Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 2
150 A.D.
“Both Him [the Father], and the Son… AND the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore”- Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 17
150 A.D.
“I praise you [the Father] for all things, I bless you, I glorify you, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, with whom, to you AND the Holy Spirit be glory both now, and to all coming ages. Amen!” –Polycarp of Smyrna, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Chapter 14
180 A.D.
“The THREE days [separate entities], which were before the luminaries [the fourth day Creation of sun, moon, etc.], are types [symbols] of the *Trinity [‘triavdo’- Greek], of God [the Father], and His Word [Jesus], and His Wisdom [Spirit]. And the fourth [day] is the type [symbol] of man, who needs light…”
- Theophilus of Antioch, Chapter 15, Of the Fourth Day, To Autolycus, 2:15
190 A.D.
“I understand nothing else than the Holy *TRINITY [‘triavdo’] to be meant; for the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the second, by whom all things were made according to the will of the Father [the first Person]”.
-Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 5, Chapter 14
200 A.D.
“See, brethren, what a rash and audacious dogma they [Sabellian ‘modalists’] have introduced, when they say without shame, the Father is Himself Christ, Himself the Son, Himself was born… But this is not so. The Scriptures speak what is right; but Noetus [a ‘modalist’ heretic] is of a different mind from them [the Scriptures]… For who will not say that there is one God? Yet he will not on that account deny the economy (i.e. the number and disposition of [three] persons in the *TRINITY [‘triavdo’]” - Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of One Noetus
150 A.D
“[the Father in Creation] conversed with Someone [the pre-incarnate Jesus] *numerically distinct from Himself, and also a rational being…”- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho,
Chapter 62
200 A.D.
“All Scriptures give clear proof of the *Trinity [‘trinitas’- Latin], and it is from these that our principle is deduced… the distinction of the Trinity is quite clearly displayed” - Tertullian, Against Praxeas, Chapter 11

“That there are two Gods and two Lords, however, is a statement which we will never allow to issue from our mouth; not as if the Father and the Son were not God, nor the Spirit, God… [but] when Christ would come, He might be acknowledged as God, and be called Lord, because He is the Son of Him who is both God and Lord” - Tertullian, Against Praxeas, 13:6
So the Christians nearest the Bible apostles taught a trinity, but denied a plurality of Gods.

The idea of ‘gods’ in the Godhead is one of Satan’s first lies told on earth. This lie, recorded distinctly in Genesis 3:5, and illuminated in E.G. White’s, “Great Controversy”, pgs. 532-533, is one which he told because he knew that more than one Person in the Godhead is properly called “GOD”(Gen. 3:22), but also knowing that a misunderstanding of *the unity is what would cause us to falsely see Them either as separate ‘gods’ or worse, as a monstrous ‘three headed’ individual being (organism). This lie (counterfeit) is found in almost all ancient religions of the world, simply because, by his knowledge of the real truth, Satan was able to plant the ‘seed of misunderstanding’.
Why is there such a coincidence of ‘divine threes’ in counterfeit religions? Evidently it was by Satan’s influence (himself knowing the truth about the true Godhead of “constituent Persons”) that these ancient pagan religions unwittingly recognized that truly there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead, but unfortunately the persons are either seen as ‘gods’, or God is seen as a personal being (personality) with three forms!
No Christian should therefore seek to promote these pagan lies, or on the other hand go to the other extreme of unwittingly opposing “all that is called God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4), in the Persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, simply because they cannot understand how, when the Three are spiritually united in the Godhead, 1x1x1 =1(one) God, and not 1+1+1=3(three) gods.
_________________
Derrick Gillespie (Mr)

Eugene Shubert · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2003 6:17 am Post subject:

I believe that Paul's statement in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 is based on Daniel 11:36.

"who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
2 Thessalonians 2:4. NKJV.

"Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done."
Daniel 11:36. NKJV.

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