Q #38. Doesn’t there have to be subordination in the human family at creation and in ministry if they are made in the image of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? No. Some have suggested that Jesus holds a subordinate role to the Father within the Trinity, and that therefore, subordination and hierarchy must have been part of God’s original plan of human- kind as the image of God. It is true that during Jesus’ time on earth we see Him submitting Himself to the will of the Father, as in His prayer in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). However, it is faulty to use the Incarnation as a pattern for the eternal relationships in the Trinity. During His time on earth, Jesus was subject to human limitations and surrounded by human temptation. Having limited Himself for His mission, He would have to rely fully on His Father, and trust the Father’s leading. At the same time, this obedience does not give any indication of inequality in Their eternal relationship. In fact, even during the incarnation, “in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9). The Bible presents the persons in the Godhead as sharing mutual authority and mutual submission among Themselves. The Father “has put [hupotassō] all things under His [Christ’s] feet” (1 Cor. 15:27). In turn, Christ submits authority “when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power” (15:24). The Father’s submission of authority to Christ does not undermine the Father’s authority since “when all things are made subject [hupotassō] to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put [hupotassō] all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (15:28). Similarly, in John 14:16, the Spirit goes where Jesus sends, and in Mark 1:12, Jesus goes where the Spirit sends. The proposal of “lesser gods” in the Trinity resembles polytheism, while the Bible emphasizes the oneness of God (Deut. 6:4).
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 02:16:48 +0000
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