For nearly sixty years, the church of God faced little internal controversy regarding the nature of God, maintaining that God is not a trinity but a family. However, around mid-1993, significant doctrinal shifts occurred within the Worldwide Church of God, changing the understanding from a family to a Trinity, which marked a pivotal change in external perceptions and alignments. The Bible reveals a profound truth about the nature of God through the term Elohim, which indicates a plurality, meaning Gods, not a singular entity. Elohim, used over 2,570 times in the Old Testament, consistently points to more than one being, as seen in Genesis 1 where it states, "Let Us make man in Our image," showing at least two divine personalities. Understanding Elohim as a family is central to grasping the nature of God, impacting the direction and quality of life for individuals and nations alike. The Israelites' early misconception of God as a mere beast, akin to the Egyptian bull-god Apis, led to moral and spiritual decline, illustrating how the perception of God's nature shapes behavior and societal values. In contrast, worshipping the true Elohim motivates believers to emulate Him, reflecting His image in their lives through deep study of His Word. Scriptural evidence, such as in John 5, identifies two within the God family as the Father and the Son, with Jesus affirming His place within Elohim. Further, Romans 8 and I John 3 suggest that believers, imbued with the Spirit of God, are also considered part of this divine family, expanding the concept of Elohim to include many sons and daughters. Ephesians 3 reinforces this, depicting the family of God as existing both in heaven and on earth, growing ever larger as a kingdom. Elohim, though plural, acts in singular unity, much like how we refer to the United States with a singular verb despite its many components. This unity is not just numerical but reflects perfect agreement and harmony within the God family, as Jesus emphasized in His prayers for oneness among His disciples and with the Father and Himself. The Bible clearly portrays Elohim as an institution, a family growing into a vast kingdom, where even human believers are being drawn into oneness with the divine, challenging narrow cultural views and affirming a dynamic, expanding nature of God.

The nature of God remains a profound mystery, with some asserting that the Bible lacks sufficient detail for a complete understanding of His essence. Human reasoning has often been employed to construct ideas about His nature, leading to conclusions that may contradict what He reveals in His Word. God declares that His knowledge, understanding, and wisdom surpass human intellect, emphasizing that He often reveals His truth to the humble and unlearned rather than the wise of this world. As Spirit, He exists in a dimension beyond human comprehension, where the logic of the physical world does not apply. Attempts to define Him through finite human concepts or mathematical limitations fail to capture His infinite capabilities. Ultimately, the revealed Word of God stands as the sole source of knowledge about His nature, and reliance on human logic only obscures the truth. Our understanding must be rooted solely in what He has disclosed through His Word.

Jesus' testimony reveals His mission to make known the Father, declaring that seeing Him is equivalent to seeing the Father. Through His revelation, combined with those of the prophets and apostles, a vital understanding of God emerges concerning salvation. The Word, who became Jesus Christ, acted as the agent of creation, working under the authority of another Being, both recognized as God, indicating two distinct Personalities in harmony. Scriptures portray Him as divine by nature, alongside another Personality also called God, emphasizing their separate yet unified existence. Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, submitting His will to the Father's, further illustrates two Beings with individual wills coexisting harmoniously within one Family, where One submits to the Other. This relationship is reflected in the use of plural pronouns in Genesis, signifying two divine Personalities working as one, equal in essence as God, yet differing in authority, as Jesus Himself states that His Father is greater than He. Regarding visibility, Jesus asserts that no one has seen the Father's form or heard His voice, yet He, coming from God, has seen the Father. Despite accounts of individuals like Moses and Abraham seeing and interacting with God, the conclusion remains that they saw the One who became Jesus, not the other divine Personality later called the Father. Before Jesus' ministry, the Father's existence was only hinted at, as part of His mission was to declare the Father to His people. The physical relationship between the Father and the Son further underscores their distinctiveness, with the Father impregnating Mary through His Holy Spirit, resulting in Jesus, called Immanuel, God with us, and the only begotten of the Father, necessitating two separate Beings. Additional evidence of their distinctiveness appears in Jesus' resurrection and ascension, where a separate Being must have resurrected Him, and He ascended to sit at His Father's right hand, indicating He could not ascend to Himself. Jesus' prayer before His crucifixion expresses the desire for believers to be one with the Father as He and the Father are one, distinct yet unified in nature, mind, and Family. This oneness, to be fully realized in His Kingdom, does not erase individuality, as names and national characteristics will distinguish individuals within the divine Family, mirroring the distinct yet harmonious relationship between the Father and the Son. The overwhelming evidence portrays God as one, a Family working to fulfill its purpose of bringing many into itself through grace and creative power.

Our spiritual Father in heaven surpasses all human fathers, providing for us, blessing us, and calling us out of this world to fulfill our eternal potential as His sons and daughters. We are to hallow His name, recognizing Him as holy, set apart, and different from the common. Despite being made in His image, our physical fathers are flawed and deficient, while our heavenly Father stands in an entirely different category, vastly superior to any human, no matter how great. God is not merely a Father but embodies a broader nature, engaging in countless roles beyond parenting. He is Designer, Creator, Life-giver, Law-giver, Provider, and Supreme Judge, sovereign over all. He works in world events, church events, and individual lives, calling, forgiving, granting repentance, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying. His expertise spans every field—geology, biology, botany, chemistry, physics, mathematics, linguistics, history, and authorship—showcasing His expansive mind, talent, intelligence, creativity, and power. We must strive to understand His greatness, though our limited minds cannot fully grasp the magnitude of His majesty and might. There is a profound gulf between Him and us, as His thoughts and ways are far higher than ours, focused on spiritual realms while we are earthbound and tied to the material. This vast difference, both physical and spiritual, reveals how far superior He is, a chasm that in our carnal state we cannot bridge on our own.

The nature of God, as it pertains to Jesus Christ, raises profound questions about His divinity and humanity. Like all men, Jesus died, yet God cannot die because He has life inherent and inhabits eternity. He has no beginning of days nor end of life. If Jesus was fully God, how could He then die? That Jesus is God is without dispute, as one of His names is Immanuel, meaning God with us, and He is identified as the Word who was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and Jesus Himself declared, before Abraham was, I AM. Yet, no scripture explicitly claims He was fully God during His human life. In His prayer, Jesus requested the Father to glorify Him with the glory He had before the world was, implying that He lacked this glory as a human, though He possessed it when He was truly in the divine state before His incarnation. This glory, whatever it may be, was something He did not have during His physical life but had returned to Him upon His resurrection and ascension.

God is the foundation of all true religion, the beginning and the sum of all things, essential to our existence, purpose, and direction. Without Him, we are nothing, and any belief system must start with Him to avoid deception and failure. Jesus Christ declares Himself in Revelation 22:13 as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, affirming His divine significance alongside the Father. The Bible, in Deuteronomy 6:4, solemnly states, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!" This reveals YHWH as the singular deity known to Israel, the only one who made a covenant with them and revealed Himself to Moses on the mount. Though generally thought of in the singular, God also identifies as Elohim, a plural noun indicating more than one Being. John 1:1-3 clarifies that God and the Word are two separate, eternal divine Beings, equals within a family structure, revealed as Father and Son, always existing side by side in perfect harmony. Currently, these two are the only members of Elohim, the God Family. The term "one" in Deuteronomy 6:4 does not denote a number but a characteristic of God, suggesting two meanings: first, that God is unique, with no one else like YHWH, the only true God; second, that God is united, whole, of one mind and purpose. The Father and the Son think, say, and do everything in perfect harmony, acting as if They are one, though They are distinct Beings. Both attributes—uniqueness and unity—perfectly describe God, reinforcing that He alone is worthy of worship, as echoed in the first commandment in Deuteronomy 5:6-7, declaring no other gods before Him. Consequently, Deuteronomy 6:5 commands, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might," as the logical response to His unique and unified nature. This devotion applies equally to the Father and the Son, both part of Elohim, despite Israel's initial ignorance of the Father's existence. Jesus Christ later reveals the Father, as stated in John 1:18, showing that for thousands of years, many did not know of Him. In Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and in Genesis 1:26, "Let Us make man in Our image," the plural term Elohim and pronouns like "Us" and "Our" hint at multiple Beings involved in creation, reflecting a joint decision by the Father and the Son. This plurality is further seen in Genesis 3:22 and Genesis 11:7, indicating Their united will in significant actions affecting humanity. Though both agreed, often only one, Jesus Christ, had hands-on involvement in creation and other acts. Old Testament passages like Psalm 2:7, where the LORD declares, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You," and Psalm 110:1, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand," reveal, from a later perspective, the relationship between the Father and the Son, though originally understood differently by Israel. In Daniel 7:9-14, the Ancient of Days, identified as the Father, grants dominion to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, affirming the Father's seniority, as Jesus Himself states in John 14:28, "the Father is greater than I." These passages collectively show the Father as Creator, resembling whom we are made, upholding strict standards against sin, sovereign over His plan, a Father to Christ and to us, working through His Son, bestowing authority on Him, and aiming to establish an everlasting Kingdom. In Revelation 4:1-3 and 4:8-11, the Father is depicted on His throne in heaven, receiving praise as the Almighty who created all things by His will, a loving Father desiring to bring many into His image.

The Nature of God reveals a complex unity through the use of various titles and descriptors that can apply to both the Father and the Son, often creating an impression of distinction where there may be none. The term Elohim, a plural word, introduces God as encompassing two Beings yet referred to as a single entity. Both the Father and the Son are involved in creation, as Scripture shows God created all things through Christ, making Them both Creators. Titles like Almighty, meaning all-powerful or omnipotent, are applied to both; Jesus introduces Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Almighty, while the Father is also described by this term. Similarly, the title Lord, or Yahweh in Hebrew, refers to both Beings across numerous occurrences, with both using plural expressions like "Let Us." The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also called the God of the fathers, is identified through the Angel of the Lord, who is understood as the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. This Angel, also termed the Messenger of the covenant, spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, made covenants with Israel, and promised the land to the fathers, actions also attributed to the Lord, suggesting They may be different descriptors for the same Being. In interactions with Abraham and Jacob, the Angel of the Lord declares Himself as their God, the One they obeyed and before whom they walked, reinforcing that this divine Messenger was the visible God they encountered. While the Father is active and God over all, the Son, as the divine Messenger, was the One seen and interacted with by the fathers, being the only visible manifestation of God, as no one has seen the Father except the Son. This Messenger, also called the Rock, the Shepherd of Israel, and the Almighty, holds multiple names and titles, often used in combination, to convey the fullness of His identity and role as the way to the Father.

God the Father is deeply involved in the divine plan, bringing many sons to glory through Jesus Christ. His personal role in Christ's sacrifice and resurrection was vital, and He remains actively engaged in the lives of His children. According to His abundant mercy, He has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, securing an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven for those kept by His power through faith for salvation. Though the world largely remains unaware of Him, Jesus declared that knowing Him is tied to knowing the Father. The world does not recognize God the Father, but His church has been granted the gift of this knowledge. He has hidden His identity from the wise and prudent, revealing it instead to babes, as it seemed good in His sight. Only through Jesus Christ can the Father be known, as the Son reveals Him to whom He wills. God the Father is the epitome of love, a central attribute of His nature. He, along with Jesus Christ, forms a united God Family, working together with one mind and purpose. They coexisted before creation as two distinct Beings, both involved in creating all things, with the Father creating through the Son. The Father is the ultimate source of truth, directing Christ, who carries out His will in perfect harmony. As Spirit, God the Father has no physical form yet possesses a spiritual shape and likeness reflected in humanity, who is made in His image. He is immutable and changeless, His counsel and purpose unbreakable, providing a foundation of certainty for hope and confidence. His perfection remains constant, unaffected by change, ensuring that His laws and truth endure unchanging. The Father's relationship with Jesus Christ reveals their distinctiveness within the unity of the God Family. He begot the Son, demonstrating their individual roles while maintaining oneness in purpose. His fatherhood embodies selfless love, offering salvation and eternal life through Christ to His potential children, reflecting His grace and perfection as the ideal to which we should aspire.