The Godhead – What is it?

from the old testament

• The word, “Godhead” is only found in the King James Version of the Bible and only in the New Testament. However, the word, “Godhead,” is used in various theological works to refer to the Trinity. The clearest declaration of God’s oneness in the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 6:4, which reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” The Hebrew word for “one” (echad) can signify a unified whole—like one cluster of grapes or one flesh in marriage—fitting with the concept of complex unity.
• Evidence in the Old Testament points to three Persons that share one essence. The creation account, for example, hits at a plurality in the Godhead in the Spirit. In Genesis 1:1, “God” is said to create the heavens and earth, and yet in Genesis 1:2 the “Spirit of God” was “moving over the face of the earth” (c.f., Psalm 104:30).
• The Spirit actively works g in men (2 Samuel 23:2; Ezekiel 2:2). David said, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me …” (2 Samuel 23:2). So, the Spirit has Personhood, speaking and doing, yet, the Spirit is also God, as the next verse attests: “the God of Israel said …” (2 Samuel 23:3). So, the “Spirit of the LORD” spoke (an attribute of Personhood) and was called “God.”
• In the Old Testament, the Angel of the LORD is a divine being, with most theologians understanding Him as being the preincarnate Son of God. A key example that the Angel of the LORD is both a distinct person and God is found in Genesis 22. This is the account when God told Abraham to sacrifice His son. The Angel of the LORD is a distinct person in the story who equated Himself with God.
• Isaiah 48:16 says: “Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord GOD (Yahweh) has sent Me, and His Spirit.” The Person speaking is the LORD, also known as Yahweh (Isaiah 45:18). Yet Yahweh, the speaker says that He was sent by “Lord GOD,” a reference to another Person also called Yahweh. Additionally, the first Yahweh is sent with the second Yahweh’s Spirit. Thus, all three Persons of the Trinity appear to be together in this passage.

from the new testament

• An example of all three Persons together is Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16–17).
• In Matthew 28, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus says to baptize new disciples in the “name” (singular) followed by three names, the three Persons of the Godhead.
• Jesus is also explicitly called God. For example, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The Word” is then identified as Jesus (John 1:18). Therefore, Jesus is eternal (“in the beginning He was with God”) and Divine (“the Word was God”).
• Jesus, Himself, said He was God. In John 8:58, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Yahweh, in the Old Testament, said He was “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The Jews understood that Jesus was calling Himself God and immediately set out to stone Him for blasphemy (John 8:59).
• Everything Jesus did was in perfect union with the Father, not of His own will: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). The One who sent Him was the Father. He perfectly obeyed the Father’s will, even to the point of dying on the cross (Philippians 2:8) so that “everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life” (John 6:40b).
• Being God’s Son, Jesus is equal with God. He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Though one, Jesus, as Person, did the unique work of dying for sin (John 19:30). For Jesus’ sacrifice to be an adequate payment for our offenses against God, He had to be God. Only an eternal God can pay an eternal penalty.
• The Holy Spirit is also God. When Ananias and Sapphira lied about how much they had sold a property for, Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …?” (Acts 6:3b). To be able to lie to the Spirit must mean He is at least a Person (you can’t lie to an impersonal force). However, Peter then said, “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 6:4c). To lie to the Spirit is to lie to God, because the Spirit is God.
• Most modern translations do not use the word “Godhead.” However, the original English translation, the KJV, did use it in three verses. Specifically, Acts 17:29; Romans 1:20; and Colossians 2:9. However, they were not translating a Greek word that meant “Godhead.” Instead, they translated the generic word for “deity” as “Godhead,” understanding that each author was referring to the nature of the true deity (God). Modern translations more helpfully translate those verses with words that fit the original Greek word and author’s intention. However, the concept of “Godhead,” like “Trinity,” remains biblically supported by the implication of all of Scripture’s teaching on God.

implications for today

The Godhead (Trinity) is a doctrine that we will never fully understand. As finite creatures, we cannot get our mind around an infinite God. Every heresy in history has started with the assumption that God can be “figured out.” They have all been able to explain “God” by making Him weak, small, and understandable.

However, the true God is eternal, omnipresent (everywhere), omniscient (all knowing), and omni-powerful (all powerful). Each Person of the Godhead shares these attributes because they share the same essence. Yet, each Person also has unique functions outside of the Godhead. All three worked together in salvation, yet Jesus had the specific task of living and dying to be the sacrificial Lamb that turned away His Father’s wrath for all who believe in Jesus. Today, the Spirit is opening the eyes of unbelievers to show them who Jesus is and living within believers to help us grow to be more like Jesus.

We may not understand how the Trinity can possibly be, but it’s a glorious truth. There is an infinite difference between us and God and yet, out of love, the Father sent the Son so that we can be joined with Him through salvation. By thinking about who God is and realizing that we are joined to Him, we will grow in humility.

Consider God for who He is. Accept Him as He has revealed Himself. Marvel at His unknowability. And praise Him for His great kindness in revealing Himself to us so that we can know the Father, through His Son, and by His Spirit.