For those in whom the Bible has been a part of their lives for a long time, they may not question the difference between God and Jesus. This question may be quite settled for you.
However, for a substantial portion of people on planet Earth who are not quite as familiar with biblical teaching, it is a huge question and a great question. It’s an important question. It’s also a question that gets a surprising number of online searches. So, let’s just clear it up.
What is the difference Between God the Father and Jesus Christ?
Okay, if you struggle at all to define the difference between God and Jesus then you will first need to start with a term that is actually not in the Bible. Say what? Yes, this theological term itself isn’t found in the Bible. However, the truth behind the term is definitely an important part of understanding who God is.
It is the name that has been put on an extremely important biblical truth. It can be quite confusing. However, knowing a bit about this extremely important Christian doctrine will enable us to answer the question about the difference between God and Jesus. So, let’s talk a bit about the Trinity.
For many people, when they ask this question, “What is the difference between God and Jesus?” what they actually mean is this – “What is the difference between God the Father and Jesus Christ?”
The difference between God and Jesus is only answered by understanding that God exists in three coequal and co-eternal persons – The Trinity. They are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is totally God. Jesus was and is God (being one person of the Trinity) and He came to earth in human form – while still being fully God.
So, is our Heavenly Father God? Yes. Is Jesus God? Yes. Is the Holy Spirit God? Yes.
I know. A bit confusing, huh? Let’s look further.
The Essence of God
When we even think of the existence of God, a supreme power, and creator of the universe it boggles the mind. That there is a divine deity with unlimited power is amazing in itself. So, to accept the notion that the eternal God is actually three co-eternal beings in one is both wonderful and very confusing at times. However, this principle is woven throughout the Holy Scriptures.
The three persons of the Trinity share the same divine essence. They are co-eternal and share a coequality as God – distinct persons of the Godhead performing unique roles in the divine plan. The good news or great news is that this triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exhibits the divine attributes of love, grace, mercy, peace, and much more.
For now, with our human nature, no human being can completely grasp a full understanding of our Almighty God. Even the Apostle Paul couldn’t.
Understanding the Triune God – Key Points:
- The concept of God as a supreme creator is both inspiring and mind-boggling.
- Belief in a divine deity with unlimited power is awe-inspiring.
- The Trinity represents the eternal God as three co-eternal beings in one.
- This concept of the Trinity is firmly rooted in Holy Scriptures.
- Within the Trinity, each person shares the same divine essence.
- Despite their co-equality, each person plays a distinct role in the divine plan.
- The triune God embodies divine attributes such as love, grace, mercy, and peace
- We can have a deep personal relationship with God, but human understanding prevents us from fully comprehending the nature of all of God’s attributes until we reach heaven.
- The concept of the Triune God remains both wonderful and perplexing to believers.
- The Apostle Paul himself acknowledged the difficulty in comprehending God’s full essence.
- “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT).
We can study and understand more about the different persons of the Trinity as we learn from the scriptures. We will know about it in full when we get to heaven. For now, we speak about it and explain it with the details and words that we have available through God’s word. We can employ what we can understand, believe it is true, and know that God works through each Person of the Trinity for our good.
God In Three Persons
The Father
God the Father: God the Father is depicted as the first person of the Godhead, the Heavenly Father. He is the loving Father who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world as the Redeemer and Savior of humanity. His role involves creation, sovereignty, and the divine plan (although Jesus and the Holy Spirit are united in those roles with the Father).
The Son, Jesus
God the Son (Jesus Christ): Jesus, the Son of God, took on the role of the Redeemer and Savior. He was born of the Virgin Mary and lived 33 years on the earth as God in the flesh without sin. He died on the cross and rose from the dead so that men and women could be saved from their sins. His mission on earth was to become the atoning sacrifice for humanity’s sins, reconciling us to God. He is the embodiment of God’s love and the Word made flesh.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Empowerer and Comforter. His role includes guiding, empowering, and indwelling believers. The Spirit’s presence enters a believer when they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. He then empowers Christians to live a life of faith, understand God’s Word, and experience the presence of God presence in a personal way.
The Difference Between God and Jesus? Back to the Trinity.
It would be impossible to answer the question about the difference between God and Jesus without looking at the Trinity. It is a hard subject to explain, especially to new believers. I’ve studied it for a long time and still want to know so much more about our triune God. But, this is a principle of scripture that even the most scholarly of teachers and preachers can find difficult to explain.
Why? Because it is Divine. It is of God. It is supernatural in nature. God has given us the word of God which is the most expansive and incredible wealth of life-producing information ever given. It has all of the details that we need about the Trinity for now. Knowing that will explain the difference between God and Jesus.
What Is The Trinity?
The Trinity. The Christian belief of the Trinity is that there is one God, yet in three distinct Persons. Those are God the Father, God the Son (that’s Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is completely God in complete unity with each other. God the Father is God. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. However, they are perfectly united as one God.
However, this doctrine doesn’t mean that God is “divided” into three parts like a three-piece pie. All three Persons – The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each 100% God. So, three persons are the same person? How does that work?
Take a look at Jesus. Look at Colossians 2:9. It is speaking about Jesus, the Son of God. However, it says:
“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”
Colossians 2:9
So, God came down to this earth in a human body? Yes. His name? Jesus. We may refer to Him as Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. He is one Person of the Trinity. He is 100% God, but so are God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
“I thought Christians believed that there was only ONE true God?”
Yes, that is correct. Christians do believe that there is only one true God. In essence, He is one God. However, in personhood, He is three. Take a look at the diagram.
If you are still confused, don’t worry. Biblical theologians and scholars down through the ages still do not fully understand the Trinity as they would like. None of us actually will until we reach heaven.
The Bible does, however, explain it enough for us to understand it as much as we need at this point in our earthly journey. The truth of the Trinity is woven throughout scripture, so we should joyfully accept that God is in three persons, but yet one.
The Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are very distinct persons. Each of the three Persons is fully God, and still, there is only one God.
Matt Perman of WhatsBestNext.com said it this way:
“The Son is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. The Father is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. And likewise with the Holy Spirit.”
Matt Permon
So, we see that in one sense, we can answer our initial question about the difference between Jesus and God like this:
In the essence of God, there is no difference between God the Father and Jesus because they are both fully God. Jesus is one Person of the three-part Godhead, the Trinity. God the Father sent Jesus into the world to be the Savior of the world and our only hope of forgiveness of our sins, a relationship with God, and an eternity in Heaven.
“Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”
1 John 4:14-16
Jesus came to earth as God in human form, lived a sinless life on earth for 33 years, and was subjected to one of the most torturous methods of death ever conceived. He died, was buried, and rose from the grave on the third day to provide forgiveness of sin and His righteousness for all who place their faith in Him.
So, There Is a Difference Between God the Father and Jesus??
In many ways, this can be equally as difficult for new believers to understand…. well…. old believers also! Some teachers have taught that Jesus didn’t really come into being until He was born to earth as a baby – you know the Christmas story – the manger, angels singing, etc.
That’s not what scripture teaches. The Son of God existed in the Old Testament and New Testament and from time eternal.
This question of whether Jesus’ identity existed as the Son of God before His earthly incarnation was actually a very divisive one within Christianity, especially in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Some taught that Jesus was not with God the Father from eternity past, but that He was created by God the Father.
Others have taught that God the Father became Jesus to come down to earth, who then became the Holy Spirit after the cross. That’s very incorrect as well. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have always existed as the triune, or three-person God.
A “God” That Doesn’t Include Jesus Is Not The Christian God
At times you may hear people today say “I believe in God.” “God help us.” “God loves us.” However, Christians believe that the only true God includes Jesus Christ who died for the sins of the world. Certainly, in Judaism, there is a firm belief in the Old Covenant or Old Testament.
However, Christians believe that the overwhelming biblical and extra-biblical evidence is that Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, the Son of God who left his own father and came to save sinful man from sin and eternal condemnation.
He provides us a way to have an intimate relationship with Him through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit comes to reside in each believer at the moment of their salvation experience.
Jesus Has Always Been With God the Father
In the Gospel of John, he refers to Jesus as “The Word.” John starts his writing off like this in the first chapter:
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.” John 1:1-4
So, clearly, Jesus existed at the beginning with God the Father and actively participated in giving life to all of creation. He was not some kind of afterthought or simply a bodily vehicle that allowed God to come to earth. Certainly, He did come to earth in bodily form but He has existed from eternity past with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Unique Differences Between God the Father and Jesus…Finally
So, the doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is one God in three persons in total unity. However, we can look at some answers to our question about God the Father and Jesus through the lens of their particular functions.
Jesus said that He and His father were “one” (John 10:30). In one example, the Apostle, Phillip, told Jesus that he wanted to see the Father. This was Jesus’ famous reply.
“Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!
So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.” John 14:8-10
In His time on earth, Jesus pointedly and adamantly revealed that He was one with the Father.
We can understand that Jesus fulfilled a spectacular role by taking on human form, leaving his place beside His heavenly father, becoming God incarnate, and being born of the virgin Mary to sinlessly walk and minister on this earth. In this we see God the Son, one person of the Holy Trinity take on human flesh in order to save mankind from our sins.
So, although the Father was present and one with Him, Jesus is the person of the three-person Godhead who came to earth born in a physical body.
Jesus was fully human with pain, hurt, and disappointment. He shed tears and was tempted as we are. But He remained without sin and also remained fully God. He lived, he worked, He served others, and He healed people of their diseases. He raised people from the dead. He walked on top of the water. He was God in a pair of sandals.
But, Jesus also physically suffered a brutal death. He depended on the Father as he walked this earth knowing what suffering was ahead of Him.
When he died and rose from the grave and His job on earth was complete he sat back down at the Father’s right hand. He didn’t leave His people, however. 10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit came and inhabited the believers.
As was the case with Jesus, the Holy Spirit didn’t just come into being at Pentecost. He had been active from the beginning also. We see His activity in the Old Testaments (Judges 15:14, 1 Samuel 16:13, The Spirit was certainly present in the Gospels as well (Luke 3:22, Luke 4:14).
We may not say it this way, but it’s easy for the human mind to gravitate to envisioning God the Father as The Mighty God with Jesus as the lesser person of God who was just there to be obedient to God the Father. Well, yes – He was obedient to the Father (John 6:38), but so much more.
So many times in scripture, we see Jesus referred to as seated at the “right hand” of God. This denotes that He sat down at the highest place of honor with God the Father, the position that indicated His sovereignty over all and equality with God the Father.
“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3
Jesus Tempted
Another issue that can draw a distinction between God the Father and Jesus is the fact that Jesus, in human form, was tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15), Yet, the Bible says that God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). However, the humanity of Jesus placed him in a situation in which He faced temptation.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
Also, as a human, Jesus Christ died (Matthew 12:40; Matthew 16:21). However, God cannot die (1 Timothy 6:16), although Jesus’ body experienced physical death. Fortunately, as we know, death didn’t get the last word.
Jesus Is Our Only Pathway To Eternal Life
Jesus is our way to the Father. Unfortunately, much of the world does not know or accept this portion of scripture where Jesus tells us that He alone is the pathway to a relationship with God and to true life – eternal life.
After being questioned by the Apostle, Thomas, Jesus simply told him:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
There are many people who are okay with us talking about Jesus – until we mention the fact that He claimed exclusivity in being the pathway to Heaven. That is a portion of Jesus’ teachings that stokes the emotional flames of the critics of Christianity as they claim that Christianity teaches exclusivity and leaves out much of the world.
It’s actually just the opposite. The message of the Gospel declares that “Jesus is patient not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
That’s not exclusive at all. It’s very inclusive. He invites the world to come to Him!
We can acknowledge that if we look only through the lens of a secular world, a lot of this will not make sense. However, a person doesn’t have to understand or comprehend all of the mysteries of the faith in order to accept Jesus Christ – not at all. He asks us to have the faith of a child.
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Mark 10:15
We Don’t Have To Completely Understand
A non-believer may think the teaching of a three-person God is ridiculous because it’s hard for us to humanly understand. Those who deny the teachings of the Bible will believe that this concept of a three-part God is silliness.
They sometimes will mock those of us who do believe. Why? Because they can’t understand it with a human mindset. Spiritual concepts require spiritual thinking, the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 2:16, and we need the Holy Spirit within us to help us understand things that are only illuminated by the Spirit.
“But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” 1 Corinthians 2:14
Also, Jesus demonstrated those who consider themselves brilliant and so very wise are some of the very ones who will not see the truth.
“At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.” Matthew 11;25
If you wait until you totally understand Biblical concepts such as the Trinity before you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you never will place your faith in Christ.
There is no pressure to completely understand exactly how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit exist and function as One God. Much of it is a mystery and will be until we are in the presence of the Lord.
One day soon we will have new bodies and our minds will not be limited to these human capacities we have now. But then, we will have the capability of clearly understanding the things of God that we now fail to see with these limited brains of ours.
However, we don’t have to throw caution to the wind and simply use blind faith to trust that God is the Father, God is Jesus, and God is the Holy Spirit. The Bible has been written and preserved in accurate form and gives us enough detail in order to believe and live a life of faith and trust in God.
We don’t have to be frustrated by the fact that there are spiritual concepts that we can’t fully comprehend. If we could see it all and understand it all then why would we need faith?
For, now it is simply our responsibility to believe, love, obey… and stay tuned. As the old song says, “We will understand it better by and by.”
Let’s take God at His word and know that we will understand it fully when we meet Him. Remember, although the Bible is a spiritual book, it also flows very well historically if read in chronological order. Depend on it. You can trust it.
Conclusion
So, is there a difference between God the Father and Jesus?
In function – yes. In essence – no.
The Trinity is a great, fascinating, and life-giving topic to dive into in order to understand God better, We encourage you to do so. Millard Erickson puts out some great theological books and this one below just might help. God bless us as we worship God in three persons!
- Millard J. Erickson (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 108 Pages – 05/01/2000 (Publication Date) – Baker Academic (Publisher)
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