Who is the God of Rev 14:7?

The Trinity doctrine as defined by the SDA church fundamental beliefs document says:

There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons

God the eternal Son

God the eternal Spirit

Now we are going to go through a Bible study and discover what Scripture says about who God is and by what names we should call Him according to God’s word.  We want to know if the SDA fundamental beliefs are correct in their definition of who God is.

Revelation 14:7 KJV  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Acts 17:24 KJV  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Matthew 11:25 KJV  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Note that Jesus says, “O Father”.  Jesus does not use any other word that might indicate that He is speaking to anyone other than His Father.  So, the God in Rev 14:7 that we are commanded to fear, give glory to, and worship is expressly stated to be God the Father.

But isn’t God the Father one of a unity of three coeternal Persons known as the trinity?

Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Mark 12:28-32 KJV  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?  (29)  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  (30)  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  (31)  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  (32)  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Zechariah 14:9 KJV  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

1 Corinthians 8:6 KJV  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

John 17:3 KJV  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

John 4:23 KJV  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

But what about Christ?  Isn’t He part of a unity of three coeternal Persons?  How does He fit into this, but to us there is but one God, the Father.

John 14:6 KJV  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 3:17 KJV  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 17:5 KJV  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Luke 4:3 KJV  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

Luke 4:41 KJV  And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

John 1:14 KJV  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 3:16 KJV  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What does it mean begotten?  Didn’t the Son of God exist from all eternity?

Micah 5:2 KJV  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Proverbs 8:22-25 KJV  The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.  (23)  I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.  (24)  When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.  (25)  Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

Proverbs 8:26-30 KJV  While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.  (27)  When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:  (28)  When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:  (29)  When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:  (30)  Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

A complete offering has been made; for “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,”– not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  {ST, May 30, 1895 par. 3}

John 1:1 KJV  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So, why is Jesus called by the name of God?

Hebrews 1:3-4 KJV  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;  (4)  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Exodus 23:20-21 KJV  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  (21)  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness–the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host–but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.  {PP 366.2}

Jehovah is the name given to Christ.  {ST, May 3, 1899 par. 18}

Hebrews 1:8-9 KJV  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.  (9)  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

John 5:23 KJV  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

But where is the Holy Spirit in all this?  Isn’t the Holy Spirit a separate person known as God the Holy Spirt as in the trinity doctrine?

Daniel 2:1 KJV  And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

What if I told you that the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar was not him but was a different person.  Would you believe me?  Yet we are willing to believe the trinity doctrine that says the Spirit of the Lord is a different person than Jesus Christ without even a single verse of scripture that says it is so.

John 4:24 KJV  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Isaiah 40:13 KJV  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

Romans 11:34 KJV  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Here are a couple of SOP quotes that will help us understand this concept.

Oh, how much we all need the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then we shall always work with the mind of Christ, with kindness, compassion, and sympathy, showing love for the sinner while hating sin with a perfect hatred.–Manuscript 8a, 1888.  {Ev 368.4

He puts the Holy Spirit upon them, and shuts them in with Himself, and they have the mind of Christ, and become co-workers with Him.–BE Aug. 19, 1895. {PaM 193.3

1 Corinthians 2:11 KJV  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

But what about the Comforter?  Isn’t that a different person than Christ?

John 14:16 KJV  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:18 KJV  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 14:23 KJV  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

2 Corinthians 3:17 KJV  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life.  {DA 827.3}

 “Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself, divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.” — (E.G. White, Lt119, February 18, 1895)

Psalms 139:7 KJV  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

The Saviour is our Comforter. This I have proved Him to be.  {8MR 49.3}

In the 1980 General Conference session at Dallas, Texas when they officially adopted the Trinity as a teaching of Adventism they stated, “While no single Scripture passage states the doctrine of the Trinity, it is assumed as a fact… only by faith can we accept the existence of the Trinity.” — (Special Edition of the Review and Herald)

The well-known Adventist Trinitarian Jerry Moon who was a co-author of the book “The Trinity” wrote, “That most of the leading SDA pioneers were non-Trinitarian in their theology has become accepted Adventist history,”

He goes on to say, “Either the pioneers were wrong and the present church is right, or the pioneers were right and the present Seventh-day Adventist Church has apostatized from biblical truth.” — (Jerry Moon, The Trinity, Chapter, Trinity and antitrinitarianism in Seventh-day Adventist history, p. 190)

The Catholic Church says, “The mystery of the trinity is the central doctrine of the Catholic faith. Upon it are based all the other teachings of the church.” — (Handbook for Today’s Catholic, p. 11).

“Our opponents sometimes claim that no belief should be held dogmatically which is not explicitly stated in scripture … But the Protestant Churches have themselves accepted such dogmas, as the Trinity, for which there is no such precise authority in the Gospels,” — (Assumption of Mary, Life magazine, October 30, 1950, p. 51)