THE NATURE OF GOD

Audio:  by Fred R. Coulter 

Introduction 

The God Family:

The God Family

God--the Hebrew word is Elohim, a plural noun inherently meaning more than one--is a holy Family of intelligent Beings, composed of spirit. The God Family is eternal and all powerful. The God Family is perfect in love, purpose and character. The God Family is Lawgiver, Creator and Sustainer of all substance and life, and upholds and controls the universe. The Scriptures reveal that the God Family created mankind "after Our image and after Our likeness." Therefore, God is the reality of the "image and likeness" from which man was created. The God Family presently consists of God the Father and God the Son. These two members of the God Family have the same form, or "image and likeness," which They have given to human beings, though They are composed of spirit. One of Their purposes is to increase the God Family. According to this plan and purpose, They will share Their eternal spiritual existence and Their vast creation with those human beings who will be born again by the resurrection from death into the God Family, thereby inheriting Their magnificent love, glory and power as sons and daughters of God throughout eternity.

Scriptural References:

God the Father:

God the Father

God the Father is the supreme, glorious, divine Spirit Being Who is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. God the Father accomplishes His will through the power of His Holy Spirit. (See The Holy Spirit.) God the Father, Who has all power and all authority, is love. He has perfect, holy character and is full of grace and mercy. God the Father is greater than His Son Jesus Christ but shares all that He has with His Son. God the Father sent Jesus Christ, His Son, to reveal the Father's love and grace and His magnificent plan for all mankind. God the Father directly calls each individual to salvation, grants repentance, and imparts the Holy Spirit as a begettal, so that the individual becomes a child of God the Father. God the Father Himself personally loves each one He calls and is directly involved in the life of each individual, continually imparting His love, grace, mercy and blessings so that he or she can develop His loving, perfect, righteous character. He personally hears and answers the prayers of all His begotten children.

Scriptural References:

I John 4:8, 16	John 6:44	John 8:16-18
John 1:1-2, 17-18	John 14:28	Eph. 3:14-19
John 16:27	Heb. 1:1-2; 2:3-9	Eph. 4:4-6
Mat. 11:27	I Cor. 15:24-28	Rev. 21:22

God the Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth:

God the Son, Jesus Christ

Prior to His human birth, the Elohim of the God Family Who became the Son eternally existed with the Elohim of the God Family Who became the Father. All things were created by God the Father through God the Son. The Son is revealed in the Old Testament as the Lord God and Lawgiver and in the New Testament as the Word of God. In order to become the Savior of all mankind, He willingly divested Himself of His position in the God Family, giving up His majesty, glory and power, to become a fleshly human being, born of the virgin Mary and begotten of God the Father, Who directed that He be named Jesus. His full New Covenant name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. As a human being having sinful human flesh, He was subject to the same temptations as every human being, yet He never sinned. As the perfect Lamb of God, He gave Himself to be God the Father's special, unique sacrifice through the crucifixion as an atonement for the sins of all mankind. After being dead in the grave for three days and three nights, He was resurrected to eternal life through the power of God the Father, becoming the Firstborn from among the dead. He was again invested with the full divine nature and power of the God Family. He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father as mankind's High Priest, Advocate and Intercessor with the Father, and as the Head of the church. Jesus Christ will return to earth in the power and glory of His Father to establish the kingdom and government of God on the earth. As King of kings and Lord of lords, He will rule the earth forever with His brothers and sisters, the children of God the Father. (See Salvation, The Nature of Mankind and The Resurrections.)

Scriptural References:

John 1:1-3	Phil. 2:6-11	Eph. 1:6-23
Heb. 2:9-14	Heb. 4:14-16	Heb. 5:7-9
Rom. 8:3, 29	Rev. 1:5, 13-16	Rev. 5:9-10
Rom. 5:8	John 3:16	John 17:1-26
I John 2:1-2	Rev. 13:8	Col. 1:14-20