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2019-05-012022-08-04

Jesus is subordinate to the Father. He called the Father “My God” and prayed to Him.

This article has been improved and incorporated into a summary article on the Subordination of the Son. The reader is advised to rather read that article.

Purpose

Head of Christ This is one of the series of articles that analyze John’s view of Jesus. In this article, it is shown that, throughout John’s gospel, Jesus is subordinate to the Father. He received everything He has from the Father, including His ability to give life to the dead, to judge, and to be honored. He prayed to the Father and referred to the Father as His God.

The title “Son,” by itself already indicates that Jesus is subordinate to the Father; not only after He became a human being for, before His birth, the Father created all things “through” the Son and “sent” the Son into this world, giving Him what to say and do. Also, to be the Judge, after He returned to the Father, He received from the Father.

Previous articles in this series include:

Did John refer to Jesus as theos (god) in John 1:18?
Did Thomas call Jesus “my God” in John 20:28?
Is Jesus called God in John?
Did Jesus claim to be God?
He and the Father are one. Is Jesus God?

Summary

Jesus referred to the Father as “the only true God” and as “My God and your God.” He also prayed to the Father.

God created all things “through” Jesus. The word “through” implies that Jesus is not an independent Creator. Rather, all creative Power and Wisdom are from the Father.

The Father sent Jesus to accomplish the Father’s purposes. The Father gave Jesus His work, and Jesus did “exactly as the Father commanded.” The Father also gave Jesus His teachings:

“The Father Himself who sent Me
has given Me a commandment
as to what to say and what to speak.”

The Father draws people to Himself and gave to Jesus His disciples.

The Father made Jesus to be the Judge:

“So that all will honor the Son
even as they honor the Father.”

“God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW …
to the glory of God the Father.”

The Father gave the Son to have life in Himself so that “the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” Jesus said, “I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” The Father “gave Him authority over all flesh, that … He may give eternal life.”

The Father gave Jesus authority to take His own life up again, after His death, for “this commandment I received from My Father.”

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.” Everything which Jesus has, He received from the Father. John consistently presents Jesus as subordinate to the Father. The teaching that Jesus is co-equal to God is inconsistent with such statements.

– END OF SUMMARY –

The Father sent Jesus.

In John’s gospel, Jesus says perhaps forty times that the Father sent Him. For example:

“I have not even come on My own initiative,
but He sent Me” (John 8:42).

“The word which you hear is not Mine,
but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:24).

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34; cf. 3:16-17, 34; 5:24, 30, 36-38; 6:29, 32-33, 44, 57; 7:18, 28-29, 33; 8:16, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 11:42; 12:44, 45; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 6, 8, 18; 20:21)

Jesus said that the Father sent Him as a claim that He is a true teacher, for instance:

“I knew that You always hear Me;
but because of the people standing around I said it,
so that they may believe that You sent Me” (John 11:42).

Today, this is no longer a difficulty for us to accept. But we make the opposite error, for we make Jesus co-equal to the Father.

The Father gave Jesus His disciples.

“No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
and I will raise him up on the last day”
(John 6:44; cf. 6:65).

“The men whom You gave Me out of the world;
they were Yours and You gave them to Me”
(John 17:6; cf. 6:38, 39).

In the parable of the true vine (John 15) the Father is the One that works: “My Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1). It is the Father who cuts away branches that do not bear fruit and prunes other branches “so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2; cf. 17:2, 9, 24; 10:29). Sometimes, we think of Jesus as the Redeemer, and that is true, but we need to remember that Jesus is the Means of redemption, while the Father is the driver of redemption:

“It was the Father’s good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
and through Him (Jesus)
to reconcile all things to Himself” (Col 1:19-20).

The Father gave Jesus His work.

“I do exactly as the Father commanded Me”
(John 14:31; cf. 15:10; 6:38).

“The Son can do nothing of Himself,
unless it is something He sees the Father doing;
for whatever the Father does,
these things the Son also does in like manner”
(John 5:19).

At the end of His ministry, Jesus said to God that He has “accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).

The Father gave Jesus His teachings.

“I do nothing on My own initiative,
but I speak these things as the Father taught Me”
(John 8:28; cf. 14:24; 7:16).

“You are seeking to kill Me,
a man who has told you the truth,
which I heard from God”
(John 8:40; cf. 8:26, 38).

“I did not speak on My own initiative,
but the Father Himself who sent Me
has given Me a commandment
as to what to say and what to speak”
(John 12:49; cf. 17:8, 14; 15:15).

The Father made Jesus be Judge.

“The Father … has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all will honor the Son
even as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent Him”
(John 5:22-23; cf. John 5:27).

The words “so that” mean that Jesus will be honored because the Father “has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22-23). Jesus, therefore, receives glory because it is the Father’s will. This we also see in the following:

“Father, I desire that they also,
whom You have given Me,
be with Me where I am,
so that they may see My glory
which You have given Me” (John 17:24).

“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You
before the world was” (John 17:5).

“God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
EVERY KNEE WILL BOW” (Phil 2:9-10).

(This is not a quote from John, but is an important support for this point.)

The words “with you” in John 17:5 imply that Jesus does not receive glory and honor independent from the Father. As we see in Revelation 5, God and Jesus are worshiped together:

“To Him who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb,
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion”
(Rev 5:13).

And in Philippians 2 it is stated that every knee will bow to Jesus “to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11).

The Father gave the Son life in Himself.

Jesus gives life to who He wishes:

“Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes”
(John 5:21; cf. 11:25-26).

“This is the will of My Father,
that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him
will have eternal life,
and I Myself will raise him up on the last day”
(John 6:40; cf. 5:28-29; 6:44).

He received that ability from God:

“An hour is coming and now is,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in Himself,
even so He gave to the Son also
to have life in Himself” (John 5:25-26).

“You gave Him authority over all flesh,
that to all whom You have given Him,
He may give eternal life” (John 17:2).

The Father gave Jesus all things.

“The Father loves the Son
and has given all things into His hand” (John 3:35).

“Jesus, knowing that the Father
had given all things into His hands,
and that He had come forth from God
and was going back to God” (John 13:3).

The Father gave Jesus to take up His life.

“No one has taken it (My life) away from Me,
but I lay it down on My own initiative.
I have authority to lay it down,
and I have authority to take it up again.
This commandment I received from My Father.”
(John 10:18)

The Father is Jesus’ God.

Jesus in Revelation 1 — Also in Revelation Jesus referred to the Father as “My God.”

Jesus referred to the Father as:

“The only true God” (John 17:3), and as
“My God and your God” (John 20:17).

He also prayed to God (John 17). For instance, He asked the Father to give the Spirit to His disciples (John 14:16-17) and that His disciples might “be with Me where I am” (John 17:24).

God created through Jesus.

Jesus created all things:

“All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being” (John 1:3).

“The world was made through Him“ (John 1:10).

Those who oppose the claim that Jesus created all things argue that these verses describe “the Word,” which they interpret as a personification of God’s Wisdom and Plan, which became manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. But we also find statements in Colossians 1:16 and in Hebrews 1:2 that God created all things through Jesus. Furthermore, in another article, “the Word” was identified as the preexistent Jesus. These seem to be sufficient proof that Jesus participated in creation.

The word “through” in these verses implies that it was God who created and assigns a passive role to Christ. God created “through” Jesus, as is also explicitly stated in Hebrews 1:2. Jesus, therefore, is not an independent Creator; but the Means of creation: Creative Power and Wisdom flowed from God through His Son. God not only created all things through His Son; the Son also upholds all things (Col 1:17; Heb 1:3). This implies an extremely close relationship between the Son and “all things.” It is proposed, therefore, that by giving “birth” to Jesus, as His “only begotten Son,” God brought forth all things.

Jesus is subordinate to the Father.

In conclusion, everything which Jesus has, He received from the Father. The teaching that Jesus is co-equal to God is inconsistent with such statements.

God created all things, but He created through His Son.

SUMMARY

GOD IS THE CREATOR:

The “LORD” said:

“I … am the maker of all things,
Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone’” (Isa 44:24; cf. 42:5; 45:18; Gen 1:1).

HEBREWS 1

Psalms 102:25-27 identifies God as the creator of the earth and the heavens. However, Hebrews 1:10-12 applies those three verses nearly word-for-word to Jesus, implying that Jesus is the Creator God. However, earlier in the same chapter, we read:

“God … in these last days has spoken to us in His Son …
through whom also He made the world” (Heb 1:1-2).

This identifies the Father alone as God and as the Creator while “His Son” is the Means “through whom” God created “the world.“

COLOSSIANS 1

Colossians 1:15-17 is very similar to Hebrews 1:1-3. Both two passages:

(1) Refer to the Father as “God” and to Christ as “His Son” (Col 1:13, 15; Heb 1:1-2).

(2) Identify the Father as the Creator and the Son as the Means through whom God created all things (Col 1:16; Heb 1:2).

(3) Describe the Son as the Image of God (Col 1:15; Heb 1:3), as “heir of all things” (Heb 1:2; cf. Col 1:16), and as the Means through whom God hold all things together (Heb 1:3; Col 1:17).

The main point, for the purpose of the current article, is that God is the Creator while His Son is the Means through whom He created “all things.”

JOHN 1

We find the same message in John 1. In this passage, we again find that God is described as the Creator, but He brought all things into being “through Him” (John 1:3).

1 CORINTHIANS 8:6

This is a key passage because it is so clear and concise. Firstly, it states that we have:

- - “One God, the Father” and
  - “One Lord, Jesus Christ”

It then distinguishes between their roles in creation:

- - All things are “from” God, the Father and
  - “By” the one Lord, Jesus Christ. “We exist through Him.”

REVELATION 4:11

Revelation 4 describes God’s throne room. Jesus only enters the room in Revelation 5 (Rev 5:6). While Jesus is still absent, the heavenly beings glorify the One sitting on the throne, saying:

“You created all things,
and because of Your will they existed,
and were created” (Rev 4:10-11)

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Since God created all things through His Son, His Son “is before all things” (Col. 1:17). Since God even created time “in the beginning” through the Son, there was no time when the Son did not exist.

(2) The “all things” which God created through His Son, is the universe and everything in it (Col 1:16).

(3) While the universe had a “beginning”, God has no beginning. He exists beyond time, space and matter. Since God is not subject to time, the claims that the Son always existed with God (co-eternal) is meaningless.

– END OF SUMMARY –

GOD AND JESUS

The Bible consistently talks about God and Jesus as if they are two different Persons. For example, at the beginning of every New Testament letter, the reader will find words such as:

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:2).

This website, therefore, follows the example of the Bible and makes a distinction between God and Jesus. For further discussion, see Jesus is not God.

GOD IS THE CREATOR.

“In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).

“Thus says the LORD … ‘I, the LORD,
am the maker of all things,
Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth all alone’”
(Isaiah 44:24; cf. 42:5; 45:18).

As indicated by the capital letters, the word “LORD” represents God’s personal name YHVH, pronounced as Yahweh or as Jehovah.

Jesus never claimed to be the Creator. He has always credited God with creation. For example:

“Have you not read
that He who created them from the beginning
made them male and female” (Matt 19:4-6)?

IS JESUS THE CREATOR?

Hebrews 1 applies Psalm 102 to the Son.

Psalms 102:25-27 says of God:

“Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Even they will perish, but You endure;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them
and they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.”

Hebrews 1 applies this nearly word-for-word to Jesus:

“of the Son He says …
You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the works of Your hands;
they will perish, but You remain;
and they all will become old like a garment,
and like a mantle You will roll them up;
like a garment they will also be changed.
But You are the same,
and Your years will not come to an end” (Heb 1:8, 10-12).

The Father is the Creator.

This quote in Hebrews 1, therefore, implies that Jesus is the Creator God. However, earlier in the same chapter, we read:

“God … in these last days has spoken to us in His Son …
through whom also He made the world.
And He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power”
(Heb 1:1-3).

Consistent with the entire New Testament, these verses identify God as the Father alone. With respect to the creation event, these verses identify God as the Creator but “His Son” as the Means “through whom” God created “the world.“

This passage also describes “His Son” as “the exact representation of His nature” (Heb 1:3).

According to this passage, who “upholds all things” (Heb 1:3)? The word “His” appears four times in these verses:

- - “His Son,“
  - “His glory,“
  - “His nature,” and
  - “His power.“

Since the first three “His“-phrases all refer to God, it is assumed that the fourth also refers to God. The phrase “upholds all things by the word of His power,” therefore, means that “His Son” “upholds all things by the word of” God’s “power.“

In conclusion, Hebrews 1 applies Psalm 102 to Christ, implying that Christ is the Creator, but the first three verses of the same chapter identify the Father alone as God and as the Creator, while the Son is the Means “through whom” God created “the world.“

Colossians 1

Colossians 1:15-17 is very similar to Hebrews 1:1-3:

“His beloved Son …
is the image of the invisible God …
by (Gr. en = in) Him all things were created …
all things have been created through Him
and for Him.
He is before all things,
and in (Gr. en = in) Him all things hold together.”
(Col 1:13-17)

Note the similarities of the two passages:

(1) Both passages refer to the Father as “God” and to Christ as “His Son” (Col 1:13, 15; Heb 1:1-2).

(2) Both passages distinguish between the roles of God and His Son in the creation event. Both identify the Father as the Creator and the Son as the Means through whom God created (Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). More a more detailed discussion of Colossians 1:16, see – Firstborn of all Creation.

(3) Both passages describe the Son as the Image of God (Col 1:15; Heb 1:3).

(4) Both passages identify the Son as the Means through whom God hold all things together:

In Hebrews, His Son “upholds all things by the word of His (God’s) power” (Heb 1:3).

In Colossians, “In Him (Christ) all things hold together” (Col 1:17). The passive voice identifies the Father as the active party both in the creation (Col 1:16) and in the maintenance (Col 1:17) of “all things.”

(5) In Hebrews, God appointed the Son as “heir of all things” (Heb 1:2). Similarly, in Colossians, “all things have been created … for Him” (Col 1:16).

The similarity of the two passages is quite amazing. Perhaps Paul wrote both letters. But the main point, for the purpose of this article, is that God is the Creator while His Son is the Means through whom He created “all things.”

John 1

We find the same message in John 1. The first verse in the Bible reads:

“In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).

John referred to that event when he wrote:

“In the beginning was the Word …
All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being” (John 1:1-3).

“The Word” is Jesus (cf. John 1:14). “The beginning” was when all things were brought into being (cf. Col 1:16). In this passage, we again find that God is the Creator and that He brought all things into being “through Him” (John 1:3).

1 Corinthians 8:6

This is a key passage because it is so clear and concise, summarizing the principles above:

“There is but one God, the Father,
from whom are all things
and we exist for Him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things,
and we exist through Him” (I Cor 8:6).

In this translation (the NASB), we again find the word “by” (compare NASB Col 1:16). However, the word in Greek is “di’” and is explained by Strong’s as “a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act, through.” (See Interlinear.) In Young’s Literal Translation, therefore, this verse reads as follows:

“Yet to us [is] one God, the Father,
of whom [are] the all things, and we to Him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom [are] the all things, and we through Him.”

Compare this in tabular form:

There is but one God,	and one Lord,
the Father,	Jesus Christ,
from whom are all things,	by whom are all things,
and we exist for Him;	and we exist through Him.

However, the brilliant Trinitarians even have answers for this verse. For a discussion, see – the Shema.

Revelation 4:11

Revelation 4 describes God’s throne room. Jesus only enters the room in Revelation 5 (Rev 5:6). While Jesus is still absent, the heavenly beings:

“Will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power;
for You created all things,
and because of Your will they existed,
and were created‘” (Rev 4:10-11).

Made in the image of God

The phrases “through Him” and “through whom” in John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, and Hebrews 1:2 indicate that God is the Creator but He created all things through “His Son.”

With this information, we can go back to Genesis 1, where God said, concerning the creation of Adam and Eve:

“Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness” (Gen 1:26).

The next verse says that Adam was created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). The assumption, therefore, is that, in verse 26, God spoke to His Only Begotten Son who, before His incarnation, “existed in the form of God” (Phil 2:6). Since God is invisible (Col 1:15), man was made in the image of Christ.

Conclusions

The Son always existed.

In the view of some, the Son was God’s first creation. They believe that there was a time when the Son did not exist. However:

Since God does not exist in time, there is no such thing as God’s first creation.

Since God created all things through His Son, His Son “is before all things” (Col. 1:17). He is “from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).

Since God created even time “in the beginning” through the Son, there was no time when the Son did not exist.

All things

According to Hebrews 1:2, God made “the world”, but then verse 3 continues and says that His power upholds “all things.” “The world” in verse 1, therefore, is a synonym for “all things.” Colossians 1:16 defines “all things” as:

“all things …
both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.”

The “all things” which God created through His Son, therefore, is not limited to this world but includes the universe and everything in it. See the article – How is Jesus the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) – for a further explanation.

Our limited understanding

We may think that we understand time, space and matter, but Einstein showed that we really do not. For a long time, people thought of the earth as flat because they were only able to see such a small part of it. In the same way, we understand time, space, and matter only from our microscopic perspective. The time, space, and matter of which we are aware is extremely small, compared to the entire universe; smaller than a grain of sand somewhere in a desolated desert when compared to the entire world. But even if we understood the universe, God exists beyond time, space and matter. While the universe had a “beginning”, God has no beginning. Since God is not subject to time, the statement that the Son always existed with God is meaningless.