by Herman Bavinck
The Father is therefore always the Father, the first person, He from whom in the being of God, in the counsel of God, and in all the works of creation and providence, redemption and sanctification, the initiative proceeds. He gave the Son to have life in Himself (John 5 :26), and He sends out the Spirit (John 15 :26). His is the election and the good pleasure (Matt. 11:26 and Eph. 1:4, 9, 11). From Him proceed the creation, providence, redemption, and renewal (Ps. 33:6 and John 3 :16). To Him in a special sense the kingdom and the power and the glory accrue (Matt. 6:13). He particularly bears the name of God in distinction from the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Christ Himself as Mediator calls Him His Father, not only, but also His God (Matt. 27:46 and John 20 :17) and Christ is Himself called the Christ of God. In a word, the first person of the Divine being is the Father because “of Him are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6).
If God is the Father, the inference is that there also is a Son who received life £rom Him and who shares His love. In the Old Testament the name of son of God was used for angels, for the people of Israel, and particularly too for the theocratic king of that people. But in the New Testament this name takes on a far profounder meaning. For Christ is the Son of God in a very peculiar sense; He is highly exalted above angels and prophets (Matt. 13 :32; 21 :27; and 22 :2), and He Himself says that no one can know the Son except the Father, and no one can know the Father except the Son (Matt. 11 :27). In distinction from angels and men, He is the Father’s own Son (Rom. 8 :32), the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased (Matt. 3 :17), the only-begotten Son (John 1 :18) whom the Father gave to have life in Himself (John 5 :26).
This very special, this unique, relationship between Father and Son did not develop in time by way of the supernatural conception of the Holy Spirit, or of the anointing at baptism, or of the resurrection and ascension – though many have maintained this – but is a relationship which has existed from all eternity. The Son who in Christ assumed human nature was in the beginning with God as the Word (John 1 :1), then already had the form of God (Phil. 2 :6), was rich and clothed with glory (John 17:5, 24), was then already the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person (Heb. 1 :3), and precisely therefore He could in the fulness of time be sent out, given, and brought into the world.14 Hence, too, the creation (John 1:3 and Col. 1:16) and providence (Heb. 1 :3) and the accomplishment of the whole of salvation (1 Cor. 1 :30) are ascribed to Him. He is not, as creatures are., made or created, but is, instead, the first-born of all creatures: that is. the Son who has the rank and rights of the first-born over against all creatures (Col. 1 :15). Thus He is also the first-born of the dead, the first-born of many brethren, and therefore among all and in all He is the first (Rom. 8:29 and Col. 1 :18). And even though, in the fulness of time, He assumed the form of a servant, He was nevertheless in the form of God. He was in all things like unto God the Father (Phil. 2:6): in life (John 5:26), in knowledge (Matt. 11:27), in strength (John 1 :3 and 5 :21, 26), in honor (John 5 :23). He is Himself God, to be praised above all else into eternity.111 Just as all things are of the Father, so they are also all through the Son (1 Cor. 8:6).
Both, Father and Son, come together and are united in the Holy Spirit and by means of the Spirit dwell in all creatures. True, God is according to His nature a Spirit (John 4:24) and He is holy (Isa. 6 :3); but the Holy Spirit is clearly distinguished from God as Spirit. Just as, in a comparative way of speaking, man is a spirit in his invisible nature and also possesses a spirit, by means of which he is aware of himself and is self-conscious, so God is a Spirit by nature and also possesses a Spirit, a Spirit which searches the depths of His being (1 Cor. 2:11). As such the latter is called the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit (Ps. 51 :12 and Isa. 63 :10-11). And this is done in distinction from the spirit of an angel or of a human being or of any other creature. But, although He is distinguished from God, from the Father and the Son, He stands in the most intimate of relationships with both. He is called the breath of the Almighty (Job 33 :4), the breath of His mouth (Ps. 33:6), is sent out by the Father and the Son (John 14:26 and 15 :26), and He proceeds from both, not from the Father alone (John 15:26) but also from the Son, for He is also called the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit of the Father (Rom. 8 :9).
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Source: Herman Bavinck, Our Reasonable Faith, 1956, Eerdmans, pp. 252–254.