When God called me and I started attending God’s Church at age 18, I began a project to read every single booklet the Church published. As I read and studied, turning to every scripture listed, I was truly shocked and amazed at the truths God was revealing to me in His Holy Word. Each booklet would explain another piece of the spiritual puzzle God was allowing and leading me to understand His glorious plan of salvation for mankind.
One of the most precious and eye-opening truths I was led to was about the Word (the Logos, the Spokesman) becoming flesh and being born as the Savior of the world—Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 1). The Old Testament was coming alive, as I now understood that the God Being who most directly worked with mankind during the Old Testament period was surely the One who became the Christ, the Messiah!

The Logos, the Spokesman who was God along with the Father, became flesh and dwelled among us.

Since being baptized in 1974, I have continually studied the Bible with that understanding in mind. It has worked very well all these years, and today I have an even deeper understanding and a greater conviction and appreciation regarding this fundamental truth God has given His Church. The Church of God is to be the pillar and ground of the truth of God (1 Timothy 3:15), and it is through God’s Holy Spirit that we are given understanding (Isaiah 11:2).

A few years ago I began an in-depth study of this belief that continues to this day. I rose early on many mornings and pored over literally thousands of verses where the tetragrammaton (“four letters”), YHWH, was represented in the King James and New King James versions of the Bible with “the Lord” using capital letters. The name YHWH basically means “the Ever-Existing One” or “the Eternal.”

Repeatedly, as I prayed and studied for understanding, this wonderful truth was confirmed to me.

The apostle John said, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18), and this was in the context of the Word—the Logos, the Spokesman who was God along with the Father—becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:1-17). So it was God the Father who had not been seen. Jesus Christ likewise confirms this two different times in Scripture. In John 5:37 Jesus says to the Jews: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.” And in John 6:46 Jesus undeniably states, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”

We ought to believe the words of John and Jesus as recorded in Scripture and not doubt they mean anything but what they clearly said in this regard. No human being has seen God the Father at any time!

Some would argue that every time the word “Lord” is used in the Bible it must refer to the Father. But, in light of Christ’s and John’s own words that no one has seen the Father, it is wrong to believe this error—because the Lord did appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He interacted with and spoke to them repeatedly. The One who became Jesus Christ is revealed as the Word of God, the Logos, the Spokesman. Think and analyze that for a moment—He wouldn’t be much of a Spokesman if He didn’t speak much, would He? If the Lord was always exclusively the Father, the Spokesman would have said very little during the Old Testament period!

The Lord also appeared to Jacob (Genesis 32:30) and to Moses “face to face” (Exodus 33:11) while manifested in human form. According to Scripture, Moses even saw the Lord’s back while He was in His glorified state in the form of God (Exodus 33:20-23). Clearly this Being who was seen was not the Father, but must have been the One who later became Jesus the Christ.

The One we now know as the Father delegated to the Word the responsibility to interact with mankind as God, beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:1, 26-28) and proceeding to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 12:7; 17:1; 18:1; 26:2, 24; 35:1; 48:3; Exodus 3:2, 16; 6:3, 16:10; Leviticus 9:23, etc.). As recorded in 1 Samuel 3:10, the Lord even stood by and spoke to little Samuel!

Jesus Christ revealed Himself as “I AM”—the Being who appeared and spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was the God Being who directly interacted with Moses, and who led the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24, 28, 58), and He spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19-20), where He was seen by and ate a meal with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 elders of Israel (Exodus 24:1, 9-11).

Jesus Christ also clearly revealed Himself as the Rock who accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4-9; 2 Samuel 22:2-3).

“The Lord,” YHWH, is used thousands of times in the Bible. When the context reveals One bearing this name appearing to and speaking directly to people, that One is the Being who became Jesus Christ. However, the name YHWH may also refer to God the Father and in a relatively small number of places in the Bible refers to Him exclusively. Often the name is used of the Father and the Word together as God. This is because we should always remember that the Word, the Logos, the Spokesman, was God too (John 1:1)—of the God kind—and that Jesus Christ is God (Titus 2:10, 13; 1 John 5:20). “It is clear that the name YHWH can be used to identify both God the Father and the One who later becomes Jesus Christ (the Word)” (“Nature of God and Christ,” UCG Doctrinal Study Paper, p. 14).

Some have been confused by Acts 3:13, which refers to the Father as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This may be easily understood in light of the fact that the Father and Christ are both God. Of course, the Father is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the sense that God the Father is supreme and He is your God, my God and everyone’s God. But this doesn’t negate the fact that it was the Word who personally interacted with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and others) as God. The Father has delegated roles of Creator, Redeemer, High Priest, Intercessor and Spokesman to His beloved Son, Jesus Christ! But, on the other hand, the Word always did the Father’s will and always spoke for the Father (John 5:19, 30-31; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10). So the Father was also intimately involved through the Word with whom He existed throughout eternity. Jesus Christ said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30; 17:22). We worship both the Father and His Son, who was the Logos or Spokesman for the Father and was also God and Lord.

The Bible is consistent in its teaching that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Therefore, there were two Beings, now called God the Father and the Son of God, throughout eternity.

Again, it was the Word to whom the Father delegated the very important role of intimately and directly interacting with mankind from Adam and Eve throughout history until Jesus came in the flesh as the Son of God. The Word, the Logos, the Spokesman—the One Who became Jesus Christ—may accurately be referred to as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” along with the Father.

We should cling and adhere faithfully to the clear teaching of the Bible on this topic and patiently deal with any perceived problems or difficulties with our longstanding overall teaching on this subject, being careful not to cause discord or division (1 Corinthians 11:17-19; Jude 1:19).

Much more could be said, but let us rest assured that it was God Himself who revealed this amazing, precious truth to His Church—and His Word is clear and sure!