There is the kind of God which is one God. Scripture affirms:
“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deut 6:4)
Paul echoes this explicitly:
“We know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one.” (1 Cor 8:4)
And Jesus identifies the Father as that One:
“This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
Thus the Father is the first kind—the One God, the source of all.
Paul reinforces this distinction:
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.” (1 Cor 8:6)
Then there is another kind of “gods,” of which there are many—created rulers, authorities, and heavenly beings. Jesus refers to this category when he cites Psalm 82:
“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” (John 10:34; cf. Ps 82:6)
Here Jesus places himself within that same category—among those addressed with the term “gods.”
But at the same time, he distinguishes himself from them by immediately stressing his unique consecration and divine appointment:
“If he called them gods to whom the word of God came… do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:35–36)
In other words, Jesus acknowledges that he stands in the Psalm 82 “gods” category, yet he is unlike the rest of them:
• He alone is sanctified (set apart) by the Father.
• He alone is sent into the world.
• He alone is the Christ, God’s appointed ruler and judge.
Thus Jesus is both within that category and above it.
Jesus occupies the space between the many “gods” and the Father, but is exalted infinitely above the former by the Father himself.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matt 28:18)
This is clarified in Paul’s kingdom vision:
“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor 15:25)
Jesus is appointed as judge over all the “gods” of Psalm 82, fulfilling the psalm’s climactic cry:
“Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all nations!” (Ps 82:8)
In the New Testament, this role is fulfilled by the one whom the Father has appointed:
“…he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27)
Yet even with all authority given to him, the New Testament keeps the order clear:
“The head of Christ is God.” (1 Cor 11:3)
And Paul describes the final act of Christ’s reign:
“Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father… When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:24–28)
Revelation shows the Son’s supreme exaltation:
“He is King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Rev 19:16)
Yet the Father remains ultimate:
“The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city.” (Rev 22:3)
So:
The Father is the one God, the source of all things.
Jesus places himself within the Psalm 82 “gods,” yet stands utterly apart from them—sanctified, sent, the Christ, the Judge, and Lord over all powers.
And all the many lesser “gods” will be placed beneath his feet until the end.
