God the Son?

A: “We believe that the one triune God exists eternally in three distinct, but not separate persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” -- AMFI articles of belief. (See http://www.amfi.org/belief.htm )

Verses such as these cited in your question are used by many false teachers to argue that Jesus is not actually God, but a created being.

Colossians 1:15 must not be misunderstood as saying that Jesus is himself a created being, since verse 16 identifies him as the Creator of all things. Likewise John 1:1 and many other passages (see links below) identify him unequivocally as God the Creator of the Universe. “Firstborn of all creation” (or “every creature”) means that he has the right of the “firstborn,” in ancient middle eastern culture, as is born out in the following verses. The author is not talking about the Son’s origin, but about his role as the Head of Creation.

The Son is not the Father, but they are both the same God. The Son has existed in Spirit as God from eternity (John 1:1), but became a man (was begotten) when born into flesh some 2,000 years ago. Therefore he is uniquely God and Man at once. As a man, he was in a position to demonstrate what the perfect man would be like, and to provide an example of how we also as believers are to relate to the Father. As a Man, he had voluntarily set aside for a time the privileges of Godhood (Phil 2:6,7), and could logically say things such as “the Father is greater than I” (Jn 14:28)

It is difficult to understand exactly what the nature of the trinity is, but Hebrews 1:3 provides a hint. If you see a star in the sky, are you really seeing the star, or are you seeing its light? Technically we could say it is the light we see, but is that a fair distinction, since it is only by virtue of its light that we see the star (or anything else, for that matter)? The star is in one sense distinct from the light, but at the same time the light is part of the star. You might even say it is an essential aspect of its “starriness,” at least in the traditional sense. It certainly doesn’t mean that there are two stars. The Son can be thought of as the light emanating from the Father (Hebrews 1:3), making him visible to us. (John 14:9).

John 17:3 – “That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” God the Son came into the world as the man Jesus Christ to show mankind to God the Father. Nothing about this verse negates what is said elsewhere about the Son’s divine nature.

John 1:18 says that God the One and Only who is at the Father’s side has made him known, showing that the Son is God at the Father’s side.

Heb. 1:9 – “God, your God” does this mean the Son is not God? No, because one verse before this it says, “about the Son he says, your throne, O God, will last forever.” The only way to make sense if this passage is to understand that this is God The Father addressing God the Son. They are both God!