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Understanding Jesus’ submission to God the Father can help us understand the Creation account better, by giving us insight into how He and the Father work together.  In fact, Jesus Himself provides some of this insight in His Sermon on Mount (emphasis added):

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”(Matthew 5:16)

Love your enemies, “…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…”  and “…perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.  Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

When you pray, start your prayers as such: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:45 - 6:1)

It seems that Jesus wants us to know that our heavenly Father is in heaven.  In fact, He wants us to see this so much, that Matthew heard Him say it no less than 16 times, according to his gospel.

You might think, “But what about before Jesus’ earthly life?  What about after it? Does the Father ever leave Heaven?” Well, we have seen part of Jesus’ answer to this question above.  “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”  Jesus is telling us to pray for when the Father’s kingdom will come to earth; but we know that when that happens, Jesus will be the king on earth, not the Father.  It seems the Father will remain in Heaven.  However, Jesus will come back to earth to establish the Father’s kingdom, to see the Father’s “will be done.” Always the servant. In fact, the apostle John saw Jesus fulfilling His Father’s will in just this way:

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.  And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.  He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name was called The Word of God… And He Himself will rule [the nations] with a rod of iron… And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11 to 16)

And lest you think the Father will come to earth with Jesus, let us jump ahead to the end of Christ’s reign, when Satan and his army will finally be crushed:

Now when the thousand years [of Christ’s reign] have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.  And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.  And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.(Revelation 20:7 to 10)

“God” in this case is referring to “our Father which is in heaven.”  Not only did Jesus come to earth 2,000 years ago while the Father stayed in heaven, but we see now that He will do so again.  After all, He is the servant.  It is His role.  It was even His role 4,000 years ago, when it would seem Jesus visited Abraham, in a series of events bearing a subtle similarity to the end-time prophecy above:

Then the LORD appeared to [Abraham] by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.  So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, ‘My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.’ (Genesis 18:1 - 3)

The men are later referred to in the story as the LORD and two angels.  At the end of their visit:

Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.  And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (Genesis 18:16 - 18)

A curiously human question for God to ask, contemplating what to do.  He then proceeds to give Abraham some candid details, yet without telling him outright that Sodom and Gomorrah was to be destroyed.

And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20 - 21)

Then the two angels of the LORD started toward Sodom, but Abraham must have thought of his nephew Lot, who was living in Sodom at the time, because he blocked the way of the LORD, and started bargaining with Him for the lives of the righteous in Sodom.  Eventually, the LORD agreed to spare the cities if as few as 10 righteous men were found there.(Genesis 18:32)  Of course, there were even fewer than 10, and God knew that.  So, the LORD agreed, and went on His way.

The two angels of the LORD then arrived at Sodom and determined that the city was to be destroyed.  They helped Lot’s family escape to Zoar.  “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.”(Genesis 19:24)

Notice that similar to John’s prophesies of Jesus’ return, God came to earth about 4,000 years ago in the form of a man, offering redemption to the righteous in the face of judgment; He then dealt out judgment from Heaven, after the faithful ones had been rescued.  If we can conclude from God’s unchanging nature that He carried out the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah in a manner foretelling the future judgment of the world, then it seems that Jesus visited Abraham on Earth, while the Father meted out judgment from heaven.

It seems reasonable to conclude then that during Creation, while Jesus was acting as God’s agent on earth, the Father remained in heaven.

Possible criticism: In Proverbs, Jesus describes Himself as being at God’s side.  One could argue that Jesus cannot be be at the Father’s side in heaven, and also on earth simultaneously.  But, if the Father is in Heaven, and Heaven is not a physical place, then “by His side” need not be given a physical meaning.  It is, in fact, symbolic.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Jesus as Witness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.