Hi Dan,
That is something I have pondered on many times, this question about who/what is God the Father. Something that has occurred to me is when you consider that God has always existed, well would this eternal being/thing actually be able to be contained into a singular shape/form? To me I do not see how that could be possible. He is eternal and all the physical and even spiritual things in the heavens and on earth were His ideas, He is the ultimate designer of all the things that hold a shape or form. Though of course the Father gave this task of creation to His Son so that "all things were created through Him and for Him." But when it says that "He/Jesus is THE image of the invisible God," would/could that mean Jesus is the only image the invisible God has?
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Here is an excerpt from the 06 Mobile Conference 'WHAT IS "THE FATHER'S WILL?'
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php?topic=3720.0 -------
So let’s think about this a little bit, who is the Father? In Him we live and breath and have our being. Liken the ocean to the Spirit of God, and liken us to the fish. The fish are 95% water, the ocean is in the fish, and the fish are in the ocean, get it.
A bird has very porous bones, because they have to be very light. It flies in the heavens, it breaths fast, because it needs strength and oxygen. So the air (which is like the Spirit of God, which is what he calls it in the NT, Greek word for spirit is pheuma), the expanse is even called heaven, where the bird flies, and liken the air to the Spirit of God. The bird has air in him and is flying through the air.
Now this is what the scripture say, we are in God and God is in us. So, get it out of your head that God is a man, sitting on a stone throne, like Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C., an old man with gray hair. God is right here, it (Bible) says so, we have to just listen to the words.
God is Spirit, it also says God is invisible, you can’t see Him, not literally. We can see Him in Spirit, as in our heart, in our mind, our soul, our spirit, in our intermost being.
The thing that makes us different from plants and other animals, is we can see God. I’m trying to help you right now, to see God. So when you leave here, you will see God in a way you didn’t, when you walked in here. If God opens it up to you, I can only tell you, but God must open it up for you to grasp it.
God is here, not here because we are here, but He was here before we got here and He’ll still be after we leave. Because this desk is here and this desk has it cohesion in Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus Christ that this desk holds together or it would fall apart. It takes energy and power, what is the source of the power, Jesus Christ, which comes from the Father and it’s passed off out of Him. One Father, one God, all and everything is out of Him. GOD IS ALMIGHTY!
What did Jesus say when He left His apostles and vanished out of their sight.
He said, “all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth,” (Matt. 28:18).
That’s why He has come, He’s not the Father, but He’s God and He possesses all power in heaven and earth. By being the One, who possesses all power in heaven and earth, He is God. He didn’t have all power in heaven and earth from all eternity, it was given to Him. One God, everything is out of that God. We’re in Him and He’s in us, because He’s Spirit. Not a Spirit, in some geographical location. The reason God knows everything, is in all places at all times, is because that’s where He is. He’s Spirit and He refers to Himself as Spirit. My Spirit is here, there and everywhere.
David was inspired to write, where can I go to get away from you God, up to heaven, down to sheol, (Psalms 139:7-12).
There’s no place I can go, where you are not. Why? God is Spirit, God is not a man, get that out of your head. He (God) tells us that, God is not a man, Jesus Christ is a man.
Where is God? EVERYWHERE!
If your in a life raft, out in the middle of the ocean, you don’t have to cry out to God, to help you. God can see you, in the big ocean. He’s there, whether He’ll help, that’s a different story. But He is there.
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mercy, peace and love
Kat