Today, in Part II of our series on the eternal subordination of the Son, we begin making a biblical case for the eternal functional authority/submission structure within the Godhead. Again, this summary draws heavily on former CBMW President Bruce A. Ware's 2006 address at the Evangelical Theological Society national meeting, "Equal in Essence, Distinct in Roles." The biblical case begins with three points from Ware.
1. The subordinate relationship of the Son to the Father is seen in the Bible's use of the names "Father" and "Son." John 3:17 depicts God the Father sending His Son into the fallen world on a rescue mission to redeem it. Similarly, Heb 1:1-3 teaches that God the Father creates and reveals and redeems through his Son.
Most certainly, as Ware points out, these names are not merely a provisional arrangement for the incarnation, but they reveal an eternal relationship in which the Father is the eternal Father of the Son. Further, Jesus said often throughout His ministry that He came down from heaven to do the will of His Father (John 6:38); thus, a central part of the notion of ‘Father' is that of fatherly authority.
Malachi 1:6 indicates such a connection between ‘father' and authority: "`A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?' says the LORD Almighty." Writes Ware, "God as Father is rightfully deserving his children's honor, respect, and obedience. To fail to see this is to miss one of the primary reasons God chose such masculine terminology generally, and here the name ‘Father' particularly, to name himself."
2. The Father exercises rightful authority over all things. It is God the Father, not the Son or the Spirit, who is said to have grand authority over all things. Some texts that clearly demonstrate this truth include Psalm 2, which displays God's rightful jurisdiction over the nations and over all human kings. Likewise, it is the Father who installs His Anointed One, His Son, as the final Regent to reign over the world.
The words that open the Lord's prayer in Matt 6:9-10 are also instructive: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus specifies that the prayer be made to the Father and asserts that the Father is over all.
Finally, Matt 11:25-27 specifies that the Father has determined to hide his revelation from the wise and intelligent and reveal it instead to infants. His authority, then, is supreme, including authority over those who will come to understand the teaching of His Son. It is also the Father who will give and draw all those who will come to the Son in salvation (John 6:37,44). Even in the last time when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord, they will do it "to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:11). The Father, then, is understood as supreme over all, and in particular, He is supreme within the Godhead as the highest in authority and the One deserving ultimate praise.
3. The Son submits to the Father in His incarnate mission. This is both obvious and generally undisputed. The evidence is overwhelming that Jesus lived His life in submission to the Father in his incarnate life and ministry. John's gospel demonstrates this truth, showing particularly Jesus's constant desire to do His Father's will and to obey His Father (John 8:23, 28-29). Jesus here says that He does nothing on His own authority. Ware writes in summary, "The level of Jesus' submission to the Father, then, is complete, comprehensive, all-inclusive an absolute. There are no exceptions to his submission and obedience, for he never once sins at any point throughout all his life."
Tomorrow: Part III of the biblical case for the eternal subordination of the Son.
For further study:
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