address and send the Spirit. God's ways are not as our ways. He is not a
man that He should be limited by the conditions of human relationships.
When we say there are three Persons in the Godhead, we use a word
applicable to men, which, though the most fitting one at our disposal,
must come far short of fully describing the relations of Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost to each other. Possessing no celestial language, we
cannot fully describe or understand heavenly things.


SECTION 3.--THE FATHER


The first Person in the Godhead is the Father. This name may be viewed
(_a_) with reference to the second Person, Jesus Christ His only
Son, or (_b_) as descriptive of His relation to believers in Christ
Jesus, or (_c_) as indicating His universal Fatherhood as the
Author and the Preserver of all intelligent creatures. The relation in
which the Father stands to the Son, that He is His Father and has
begotten Him, is one that we cannot explain. Any attempt to do so must
be arrogant and misleading, for who "by searching can find out
God"?[020] Secret things belong unto God, but revealed things unto us
and our children.[021] The term "Father" is a relative one and involves
the idea of sonship. No one who accepts the teaching of Scripture can
doubt that the Father is God. The statements as to His attributes and
universal government are so many and so strong that, but for other
affirmations regarding Deity, we should naturally conclude that the
Father alone is God. But the very name "Father" corrects such a view,
and when we search the Scriptures we find it untenable. God is our
Father, but He was "the Father" before He called man into being. From
all eternity He was Father. As from everlasting to everlasting He is