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it appears to be necessary) In practice, many Christians, although giving lip service to the orthodox theology, in practice ignore it in their prayers, hymns, writings and conversation; simply speaking of Christ as Lord and his Father as God. This can easily be checked out.

As to Christ Himself his greatness is seen in many things and although others have part with Him in many things He has a unique place in all things. To give some examples:

He is not just a prophet, but the prophet (John 6:14). He is not just God’s servant, but his holy servant (Acts 4:27). He is not just a son of God but the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:16).
He is not just a lord, but the Lord of all (Acts 10:36). Then their are many other ways in which He has a unique greatness. We have it said: “Never man spoke thus, as this man [speaks]” (John 7:46). There was a greatness and uniqueness not only about his speech, but also in what He did. For instance, he opened the eyes of one born blind; an unheard of thing (John 9:32). And so we might go on. As to Paul’s epistles, Colossians stresses the unique greatness of the Person of Christ. He is “image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). He is to have “the first place in all things” (verse 18). His personal greatness and the greatness of the place he is to occupy would be an interesting and profitable study. However there is also the unique greatness of God his Father and this must be maintained and not watered down in any way. This we will now consider. If Colossians focuses on the person of Christ, Ephesians focuses on God his Father.

As to the Father He stands out as the only God who is invisible and dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 1:17 and 1 Timothy 6: 13-16). He is supreme as Christ said: “My Father... is greater than all” ( John 10:29). Paul says similarly: “[There is]... one God and Father of all, who is over all” (Ephesians 4: 4-6). This is what is often called omnipotence. The passages are explicit and cannot reasonably be misunderstood. Then we know that God the Father is fully cognisant of all that goes on in this world, so that it is said that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without Him (Matthew 10:29). This is what is often called omniscience. The care of the Lord’s people is attributed by Christ to God his Father. See for instance

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