Trinity 2: The Father (Apologia Pt 5)
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There is one God because there is one Father. Scripture uses God as a name for the Father almost exclusively. “…[T]here is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him….” (1Co 8.16) The God of the Old Testament is the Father. For this reason, the Son is called the “Son of God,” and the Spirit, the “Spirit of God.”
The Father eternally begets — gives birth to or generates — the Son and shares his divine nature with him. The Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father, and the Father shares his divine nature with the Spirit, as well. Thus, there is one God, sharing one divine nature in a communion of three unique and distinct persons. The divine nature is the nature of the Father, which he freely shares with the Son and the Spirit.
For this reason, we call the Father the source or fountainhead of the Trinity. No person of the Godhead is greater than another, all are equal in essence, equal in power, equal in glory. However, the divine nature is the nature of the Father, timelessly shared with the Son and the Spirit in a way beyond our comprehension.
What is the difference between generation and procession? The meaning of the distinction has not been revealed to us. We only know that there is a difference: The Son is not the Spirit, nor is the Spirit the Son. They are distinct persons within the Godhead.
Next, we will look at the persons of the Son and the Spirit.