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            In order to define the nature of God, certain ground rules have to be established. God defines Himself as the “I am”. This statement is in contrast to “I was” and “I will be”, even though these statements would apply to God as well. The description “I am” expresses a perpetual perfect present condition, i.e., it defines a state of being not subject to TIME and SPACE.  Time and space are obviously conditions that were created by God and God therefore is not subject to them, except as He subjects Himself to time and space voluntarily for a temporary purpose.

            As we consider the Word of God, the Bible, we will find that it was written for mankind, a physical creation subject to the physical conditions of time and space. And yet, sprinkled throughout the Bible are references to the spiritual dimension that is not subject to time and space.
For example, when Jesus Christ said: “before Abraham was, I am”, He is making a TIME statement “before Abraham was”, but He is also making a NO TIME statement “I am” (John 8:58).

            In other words, as we read and consider the Word of God, we must be aware that most of the Bible is written for, to and about man, who is subject to time and space. Yet, God is also conveying to us the fact that there is a spiritual dimension in which He presides and for which He is preparing us to enter into when (physical) time and space will no longer exist, for those who have become spirit Beings (whether or not there is spiritual time and space is a matter of speculation and will therefore not be addressed).

            We are all familiar with the two beginnings in the Bible, Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1.  Gen. 1:1 says: “In the beginning God”. The word “God” in the English language is obviously singular. No translation or any other language says “In the beginning Gods”, and yet in the Hebrew language the word Elohim can have both a singular and or a plural connotation depending on context. Nevertheless, should there have been two God Beings, God would have been quite capable to have Gen. 1:1 say so and make it plain - but He did not.
Now look at John 1:1; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. Does that verse speak of ONE or of TWO Gods? Clearly it speaks of ONE God (God and His word are ONE God, just as you and your word are one you). Yet, again the verse leaves the door open for a possible duality, i.e., the “Word” and “God”.

            Now consider the creation account in Gen 1:29 were God clearly refers to Himself in the singular when He says: “I have given you.....” (not ...we have given you), but again there is a duality or plurality expressed in Gen 1:26 where God says: “Let US make man…”  Why the mixed signals? God is obviously quite capable to express a condition clearly and unequivocally as He has done so in the New Testament were clearly there are two God Beings - the Father and the Son.

            Let’s assume, for the sake of this discussion, that there was indeed, throughout eternity, just one God Being and not two, as the churches of God traditionally have and still teach. Taking time into consideration, as God, as a rule does, when He writes to and deals with mankind, there would have been a time when there was only ONE God Being, who in due time reproduced Himself through His Word that BECAME His Son. However, looking at it from Gods point of view, who is not in time, the duality of Father and Son, i.e., TWO God Beings (may) have always existed? This may be difficult to accept and understand, but the Bible is after all primarily a book of faith and not a book of understanding the spirit dimension. God clearly tells us that now we see the spiritual dimension only through a glass darkly. We cannot, in our physical condition comprehend and understand the spiritual dimension, that's why God speaks to us primarily from the physical dimension of time and space.

            On the other hand, God said that we would know Him, to whatever degree possible and necessary, by the things He created. The concept of the single cell multiplying is well established in science. The concept of the single God reproducing Himself through His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit, I belief, is also well established in His Word. Based on the created order, birth is always a beginning (there is no pre-existence), just as death is always an end (not life in heaven, hell or purgatory).

            Scriptures such as Ps 110:1; John 17:5; John 8:58; 1Cor 10:4 etc., that are offered as prove for two God Beings are as biblical as any other scripture, but they do have to be considered in the context of either “in time” or “not in time”. Any discussion on the nature of God must be done either from mans or from God's point of view. Not considering the difference becomes the cause of disagreement in Bible interpretation, and unnecessary division of church organizations, families and individuals.

            Looking at the issue from man's point of view, i.e., from the standpoint of time, God clearly reveals Himself as the ONE true God “Yahweh Elohim”, the “Lord God”, who miraculously (a point of belief, not of understanding) takes His Word through the agency of His Holy Spirit, and causes His Word to become flesh/human through procreation (not through procreation AND incarnation), so that there are now clearly TWO God Beings, God the Father and the Son of God - the ONE God Family.

            The ONE God, Yahweh Elohim, reproduced Himself by taking something of Himself – something from within - His Word, and causing it to become human (through His wife – Israel/Mary), to live, to suffer, to die and to be resurrected, and to again return to God and the perfect unity the Word and God had prior to the Word becoming flesh.

            The difference between man and Jesus Christ is that man, that is Adam, was created by God, whereas the Word  of God was un-created, being something of God Himself, something that was always with God and therefore was and is God.

            The process of God reproducing Himself continues through man, who is born, lives, repents, suffers, dies and is resurrected and thereby becomes what God is - God.
           
            The reason why there is no direct reference to either “Jesus,” “Jesus Christ,” “God the Father,” “God the Son” or “Family of God” in the Old Testament is because it is written for man who is in time. God did not become a (true) father, and the Word did not become a (literal) son, until “the fullness of the time” had come (Gal 4:4).

            For man, Jesus Christ did not come into existence until He was born 2000 years ago. There are of course many prophetic references to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, just as there are prophetic references to the resurrections and the Kingdom of God, where we all understand that these are still future events. 

            On the other hand, from God's point of view (and to a limited degree even from man's  point of  view -  for those who are led by the Holy Spirit), Jesus Christ was there from all eternity. But, we must face up to the fact that there is a mystery involved which we will not fully understand until we are what God is – a Spirit Being.

            In the meantime it behooves us to view God primarily from man's point of view - in time, simply because this is the primary way God has revealed Himself through His Word - the Bible. That is why God, not man, divided the his(s)tory of mankind into before Christ (BC), when Jesus was not, and after Christ (AD), when Jesus was. All prophecies about a coming Messiah in the Old Testament, pointed forward to the most important event in human history, the coming, i.e., the BIRTH, of the Son of God. The (false) doctrine of pre-existence makes a mockery of that event. The Jesus who existed as Jesus, before he was born as Jesus, is a false Jesus, who cannot be our example, unless, YOU also existed before you were born. I hope that is not the case! 

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