Hi,
Please help me answer this question, for I have been confused about it my entire life. I am confused about whether Jesus and God are one and the same, or if Jesus and God are separate. When Jesus was on the cross he said, "Father, why hath Thou forsaken me?" If Jesus and God are the same, but Jesus in a human form, why would Jesus say this to Himself?
Please help.
Thanks
Hi,
the Bible teaches that there is one God who exists in three persons - Father Son and Holy Spirit. Not an easy concept for us to grasp! But rest assured that when Jesus said 'Father why have you forsaken me?' He was not talking to Himself! And when God's voice was heard from heaven saying 'This is my beloved Son, listen to Him', it wasn't Jesus speaking about Himself. It is the same with the Holy Spirit - Jesus spoke about the fact that when He went back into Heaven the Father would send the comforter (the Spirit of truth) to be with believers forever. The Spirit is separate to Jesus and Jesus is separate to the Father. Yet each possess all the attributes of deity and are completely unified in all things.
So it is not right to say that the Son is the Father or the Son is the Holy Spirit. The Bible does separate the roles and persons within the 'Godhead'. Yet it is also wrong to say there are three Gods! The Bible declares that there is one God who exists in three persons. I know... not easy to grasp. thankfully, understanding it fully is not a test you have to sit to get into Heaven!
People use different illustrations to try help us understand 'the Godhead' but all fall down to some extent. A common one if to think of ice, water and steam. Each is simply a different state of the same elements. When the temperature is below the freezing point it is ice. At normal temps it is water. At boiling point it becomes steam. Each is water yet each exist in a different state. The trinity is kind of like that.
Here are a couple of links that go into the question in more detail:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-Bible.html
http://www.gotquestions.org/see-Trinity-heaven.html
Hope that helps a little!
All the best.