The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is one God who exists eternally in three distinct persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first person of the Trinity. This is clearly taught throughout Scripture and has been affirmed by orthodox Christianity since the early church.
The Father’s role as the first person of the Trinity means a few key things:
1. The Father is eternal and uncreated
The Bible teaches that there is only one eternal God who has always existed (Psalm 90:2). The Father is fully God and has no source or origin. His existence stretches back eternally. Everything else that exists, including the Son and the Spirit, ultimately originates from the Father as the source and fountainhead of the Trinity. The Nicene Creed affirms that the Father is “the one God, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.”
2. The Father has supremacy and priority within the Trinity
While all three persons of the Trinity are equally God in essence, the Father has hierarchical priority and preeminence within the ontological relations of the Trinity. This is seen, for example, in the fact that the Father sent the Son (John 3:16), the Son submits to the Father (John 6:38), and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son) (John 15:26). The Father occupies the primary position and serves as the source of divine life and attributes which are shared mutually with the Son and the Spirit from all eternity.
3. The Father has fatherhood over the Son and the Spirit
The first person of the Trinity is called “Father” to reveal the eternal relationship he has with the second and third persons of the Trinity. The Father eternally begets the Son (John 1:14,18) and from all eternity the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. The Father is not called Father because of his creation of the world and humanity, but because of the relationship he has within the Godhead itself. The Son is called the “only begotten” to underscore his eternal sonship in relation to the Father (John 1:14,18).
4. The Father is the source of all divine works and actions
All of God’s activities in creation, providence, and redemption originate from the Father and are carried out by the Son and the Spirit. This is why the Bible can speak of the world as being created through the Son (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16) and by the Spirit (Genesis 1:2) but also say that all things are from the Father (1 Corinthians 8:6). Although the external works of the Trinity toward creation reflect their unified action, the fountainhead of divine works ad extra is the Father.
In salvation, the Father sends the Son to accomplish redemption (1 John 4:14), the Son obediently carries out the will of the Father (John 6:38-40), and the Spirit sanctifies us according to the Father’s will (1 Peter 1:2). And yet, all three persons are rightly called our “Savior” (Titus 3:4-6).
So while the three persons work in total unity, the originating source is the Father.
5. The Father has ultimate authority
The Father’s position as the first person of the Trinity means that he possesses supreme authority within the Godhead and the right to send forth the Son and the Spirit to accomplish the divine will. Christ taught that the Father “has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22) and that the Son does nothing of his own will but only the Father’s will (John 5:30; 6:38). At the consummation of all things, the kingdom will be delivered by Christ back to the Father so that “God may be everything to everyone” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
The Father delegation authority to the Son (Matthew 28:18), and with the Father’s authorization the Son sent the Spirit into the world (John 15:26). The Father retains sovereign control over the timing and direction of the Son and Spirit’s mission (Acts 1:7). As the early church father Gregory of Nazianzus summarized, “The Father is the source and provider of the Godhead, the Son is the one through whom all things come from the source, and the Spirit is the active energy and efficacy that unites us to the Son and through him to the Father.”
6. The Father is loving, gracious, and merciful
While the Father’s role as the first person of the Trinity gives him primacy and prominence, Scripture is also clear that the Father is characterized by the same divine perfections and attributes that belong to the Son and the Spirit. The Father is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and unchanging in his divine nature. The Bible repeatedly ascribes love, grace, mercy, wisdom, goodness, patience, and justice to the Father.
Jesus taught that the Father cares for us more than the birds of the air or the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-34). He hears our requests and answers our prayers (Matthew 7:11). He forgives our sins when we repent and come to Christ (Luke 15:11-32). The Father loved the world enough to send his Son to die for us (John 3:16). He draws us to himself (John 6:44) and disciplines us in fatherly love (Hebrews 12:5-11). Believers are adopted as the Father’s children (Galatians 4:4-7) and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:15-17).
So while the Father is supreme within the Trinity, Scripture presents him as full of compassion, mercy, and grace. His fatherhood expresses eternal love and divine perfection.
7. The Father is to be honored and worshiped
Because the Father is the supreme person within the Trinity, possessing supreme majesty, glory and authority, he is rightfully honored and worshiped within the Godhead. Jesus said that he intentionally revealed the Father so that “all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). Jesus taught his disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9) and said that whatever they asked of the Father in his name would be done (John 15:16).
Throughout Scripture believers bless, praise, give thanks to, and call upon the name of the Father (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Romans 1:8). We worship the Father in spirit and truth as Jesus taught (John 4:23). The Father seeks those who will worship him (John 4:23). Eternal life is to know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent (John 17:3).
So as the first person of the Trinity, possessing undiminished deity and divine glory, the Father is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. The Father is the archetype of all fatherhood
Human fatherhood – at its best – is meant to reflect the Fatherhood of God. Earthly fathers have a crucial role of leadership, provision, protection, care, discipline, and love that is modeled after our perfect heavenly Father. All fatherly qualities flow from him. This is why Paul says that ultimately every family in heaven and earth derives its name from God the Father (Ephesians 3:14-15).
The Father thus serves as the timeless paradigm of fatherly love, nurture, provision, sacrifice, forgiveness, protection, and guidance. His Fatherhood in the Trinity is the source of all earthly fatherhood.
9. The Father initiates the plan of salvation
Redemption originates in the loving heart of the Father. The Father sends the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). It is the Father’s will that Christ should give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). The Father forsakes the Son on the cross out of love for the world (Mark 15:34). On the day of Pentecost Peter preached that Jesus was handed over according to “the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
Paul says the Father “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10) and that Christ’s sacrifice was “to demonstrate his [God’s] righteousness” (Romans 3:25). The Father graciously gives us salvation because of the merit of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). While salvation is equally the work of the Father, Son and Spirit, the initiating will and plan behind redemption is the Father’s.
10. The Father draws us to the Son by the Spirit
An important part of the Father’s role in salvation is drawing men and women to faith in Christ by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus repeatedly taught that no one can come to him unless the Father grants it (John 6:44, 65). It is ultimately the Father who opens hearts to respond to the gospel (Acts 16:14). The Father convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment through the Spirit, who then glorifies Christ (John 16:8-14). Salvation involves all three persons of the Trinity, initiated by the Father who draws us to the Son through the Spirit.
11. The Father elects us for salvation
Scripture portrays divine election – God’s sovereign choice to save guilty sinners – as happening primarily in reference to the Father. In Ephesians Paul writes that the Father “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” and “predestined us for adoption as sons” according to the “purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4-6). This divine choice took place within the eternal counsel of the Trinity, before creation. The Father predestined those whom he foreknew and graciously chose for salvation (Romans 8:29-30).
Election originates from the Father. He has chosen a people for himself for his glory (Ephesians 1:4-6). The Son redeems those whom the Father has given him (John 6:37-39). The Holy Spirit applies Christ’s redemption to the elect (Titus 3:4-6). Together they bring about the salvation of lost sinners to the praise of God’s grace.
12. The Father’s sacrificial love serves as an example
While God the Father is not said to have died on the cross (only the incarnate Son tasted death), nevertheless the Father displayed profound self-sacrifice in sending his beloved Son. This self-giving love of the Father serves as the supreme model for Christian discipleship and service. As the most vivid demonstration of God’s love (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10), the Father’s willingness to send his Son powerfully exemplifies what it means to follow Christ, who commanded his disciples to love one another as he loved us (John 15:12-13).
The Father loved the world enough to give his most precious possession – his one and only Son. His sacrificial love sets the pattern for Christians to live as servants who joyfully give of themselves for the sake of others and the glory of Christ.
13. The Father raises Christ from the dead
Each person of the Trinity had a part to play in Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Scripture variously attributes the resurrection to the activity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, the preeminent role belongs to the Father. Peter preached that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24). Paul taught that Christ was raised “by the glory of the Father” (Romans 6:4).
The Father’s resurrection of the Son was his public declaration of Christ’s triumph over sin and death on the cross. It powerfully vindicated the Son and affirmed the acceptance of his sacrifice. In raising Christ, the Father also confirmed believers’ justification, since we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection (Romans 4:23-25). As Jesus said, “My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life… No one has taken it from Me, but I lay it down of My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).
So the Father, as the source of divine life, had ultimate authority to resurrect the Son, confirming the success of his mission and securing the future resurrection of all who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 6:14).
14. The Father enables us to participate in Christ’s sonship
Those who are adopted into God’s family through faith are enabled by the Father to share in the eternal sonship of Christ. Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God, but through our union with Christ by the Spirit we become partakers of his divine nature (2 Peter 2:14) and his sonship. We are made co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Believers are sons in the Son. This privilege also originates from the Father. Paul says that “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!'” (Galatians 4:6). We relate to God as Father because by the Spirit we participate in Christ’s own relationship as the Father’s beloved Son. Our sonship is only possible through the Son’s precedence.
So the Father enables adopted sons and daughters to experience the intimacy, provision, discipline, hope, protection and guidance that Christ himself experiences – all flowing from the Father’s infinite love. Our Father loves and cares for us with divine, untiring love.
15. The Father is the goal of the believer’s relationship
Knowing God in an intimate and personal way is held up as the supreme goal of the Christian life. Jesus defined eternal life as knowing “the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In his high priestly prayer, Jesus prayed to the Father that “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). The ultimate destiny of the believer, as Paul makes clear, is the vision of God face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). To see and know God in his unveiled glory and beauty is our final hope, made possible through Christ.
The end goal is not just a generic vision of a vague God, butseeing and knowing God the Father.Jesus brings us to the Father (John 14:6). The Spirit leads us to cry out in intimacy to God as “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15).To know the love of Christ is to be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). Eternal life means relating to God through Christ as belovedchildren to a perfect heavenly Father. Our adoption and union with Christ brings us into this fellowship with the Father.
In conclusion, understanding the Father as the first person of the Trinity gives insight into the God that Christians worship. He is the Almighty yet intimate Father – eternal in being, supreme in authority, gracious in salvation, generous in love. There are depths to his fatherly nature beyond human comprehension. But through Christ and the Spirit we have been brought into relationship with this God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in essence yet distinct in person and function.
